LIBRARY OF CONGRESS. 



-Xaj^s, 

UNITED STATES OF AMERI 



^ 



^v 



C0XD:E OIF" 1881. 



CODE 



LAWS OF THE LO.O.F. 



FOR ILLII^OIS. 



ADOPTED IN 1881 BY THE GRAND LODGE OF ILLINOIS. 



By SAMUEL WILLAED, 

P.G. Rep., P.G.P., P.G. Sec. and P.G. Scribe. 



1/ i';.-- 

PUBLISHED B^^^OF WASHIHQ^^ 
THE R. W. GRAND LODGE OT 

1882. 



o-S. 



^^^^';^^ 

\').' 



^ .,0/^ 



Copyrighted by 

The Grand Lodge of Illinois, I.O.O.F., 

In the office of the Librarian of Congress, 1882. 



SHEPARD & JOHNSTON, 

PRINTERS, 

14-0-14-6 MONROE STREET, CHICAGO. 



PREFACE, 



This manual differs from the Fifth Digest and other works 
issued by the Grand Lodge of Illinois in this important charac- 
teristic : it is, so far as local law is concerned, the law of Illinois, 
exclusive of all enactments and decisions not herein included. 
It thus forms the basis of further legislation, which may supple- 
ment it ; but no inquiry concerning Illinois law, except for 
history or interpretation, is to be made beyond this Code. 

The idea of such a basis of law originated with Grand Master 
Orendorff, who proposed it to the Grand Lodge. With much 
labor and no little expenditure of time, it has been produced. 
The Committee having it in charge met- and spent several days 
in reviewing and revising it: and the Compiler can say, for his 
share of the work, that he has spent more than twice as much 
labor upon it as he spent upon the Fifth Digest. The 
hundreds of references have all been verified ancAv. The index- 
ing is a special feature of importance. That his work is perfect 
the writer does not suppose : he can only hope that those who 
use it may find its errors few and slight, and its usefulness and 
helpfulness abundant. 

The Special Committee having this work in charge consisted 
of Bros. John H. Oberly, P.G.M. and P.G.R. ; John C. Smith, 
P.G.M., P.G.R., P.G.P. and Grand Scribe; Daniel L. Shorey, 
P.G.R. ; Melville C. Eames ; M. B. Mills; Alfred Orendorff, 
P.G.M., P.G.R. and G. Rep. ; Fredolin Bross, P.G.M. ; Elijah 
B. Shennan, P.G.M. and P.G.R. ; and Nathaniel Coffin Nason, 
P.G.R. and Grand Secretary. For their courteous aid and con- 
siderate judgment the Compiler is happy to render his thanks, 



IV PREFA CE. 

especially to Bros. Orendorff and Oberly, who, as proposers and 
supporters of the codification, have taken the greatest labor in 
the revision of it. To the Printing Committee, Bros. S. W. 
Grubb, Chas. L. Seymour, and James H. Preston, the Order are 
indebted for their selection of printers and their care of the 
mechanical execution of the book, which commends itself to the 
eye of every reader. 

This book will be found highly useful for much beyond the 
mere codification of the laws. The six Practical Codes in the 
Appendix are an entirely new and original feature, which will be 
more used than any other part of the book. Even members of 
the Order not resident in Illinois will find these suggestive and 
convenient. Much information on various matters is brought 
into small compass that cannot elsewhere be found collected; 
even the members of the S.G.L. will find nowhere else in such 
form the information in Sec. 69 of this manual. Attention is 
invited to pages 312-318 ; to the history of the Degrees, p. 322; 
of Legisladon on N.P.D., p. 321 ; of Aprons, p. 324; the table 
on p. '^'^'}^ ; and to the history obtainable by consulting the titles 
Manchester Unity, Degree Lodges, Sztspension of Lodges, De- 
fo7'7?iity. Liquor Traffic, Lntoxicating Drinks, and the notes on 
Appeal Cases, Sec. 788 : Deputies, Sec. 322 ; Visitors to S.G.L., 
Sec. 25 ; and A. T.F. W., Sec. 384. 

To the kind consideration of the Order in Illinois, which 
has so generously appreciated his former efforts in the prepara- 
tion of its Digests in 1852, 1854, 1855, 1864 and 1872, the Com- 
piler commends this, his latest and most laborious work. 

Chicago, Illinois, October 21, 1882. 



TABLE OF CONTENTS. 



CHAP. I. 
Sovereign Grand Lodge 1-27 i 

CHAP. II. 

General Laws respecting Grand Bodies, especially Grand 

Lodges 28-69 2 

CHAP. III. 

Grand Lodge of Illinois : its Organization, Members, 

Meetings and Rules 70-102 19 

CHAP. IV. 

Grand Officers, especially of Illinois : their Power, Duties 

and Privileges 103-151 28 

CHAP. V. 
Standing Committees of Grand Lodge 152-165 38 

CHAP. VI. 
Charters and Institution 166-181 41 

CHAP. VII. 

General Laws affecting Subordinate Lodges, not other- 
wise classed 182-221 44 

CHAP. VIII. 

Lodge Officers : their Election, Appointment, Resignation 

and Removal 222-264 51 

CHAP. IX. 
Officers of Lodges : their Powers, Duties and Privileges . 265-308 58 

CHAP. X. 
Past Officers and Past-Official Degrees 309-321 67 

CHAP. XI. 
Deputies of the Grand Master 322-333 70 

CHAP. XII. 
Installations 334-360 75 



VI CONTENTS. 

CHAP. XIII. ^ ^ 

SECS. PAGE 

Membership : including Qualifications, Course of Action 

on Propositions, Ballots, Initiations and Admissions . 361-428 79 

CHAP. XIV. 
Dues and Fees : Revenue and Expenditures 429-481 94 

CHAP. XV. 
Cards, Visitors, Withdrawals and Resignations . . . 482-543 104 

CHAP. XVI. 
Benefits and Relief 544-608 117 

CHAP. XVII. 
Jurisdiction and Offenses 609-629 133 

CHAP. XVIII. 
Charges and Trials 630-727 140 

CHAP. XIX. 
Penalties and Disabilities 728-755 159 

CHAP. XX. 

Non-Payment of Dues, and Disability therefrom : Drop- 
ping and Reinstatement thereafter 756-786 165 

CHAP. XXI. 
Appeals and Reinstatements 787-822 172 

CHAP. XXII. 
Passwords 823-845 182 

CHAP. xxin. 

Degrees and Rank 846-868 187 

CHAP. XXIV. 
Rebekah Degree and Rebekah Degree Lodges .... 869-916 191 

CHAP. XXV. 
Regalia, Jewels, Emblems and Flag 917-942 204 

CHAP. XXVI. 

Constitution, By-Laws and Rules of Order of Subordinate 

Lodges 943-965 211 

CHAP. XXVII. 

Meetings, Quorum, Business, Records, Voting and Com- 
mittees 966-1027 215 



CONTENTS. Vll 

CHAP, xxvni. 

Terms, Returns and Reports 1028-1039 225 

CHAP. XXIX. 

Journals and Supplies 1040-1053 230 

CHAP. XXX. 

Defunct Lodges 1054-1071 232 

CHAP. XXXI. 

Funerals 1072-1083 236 

CHAP. XXXII. 

Miscellaneous 1084-1123 238 

APPENDIXES. 
I. Practical Codes — 

No. I. Membership, gaining, losing 249 

No. 2, Cards 259 

No, 3. Benefits 265 

No. 4. Elections and Appointments . 269 

No. 5. Trials 274 

No. 6. Appeals 280 

II. Forms 285 

III. Diagram of Lodge Room 307 

IV. Acts of Incorporation 308 

V. Information respecting the G.L.U.S., S.G.L., and G.L. of Illinois 312 

VI. References to Journals of Illinois 326 

VII. References Tables, pages and years of Journals 332 

VIII. Constitutions G.L. and Sub. L. of 111., G.L. By-Laws and 

Rules of Order 334 

IX. Rules of Order of Model Code 337 

Index 343 

Addenda, later legislation 419 

Errata 423 



AUTHORITY OF THIS CODE. 

In drand JLodge of Illinois , JSTovember 17 f 1881, the fol- 
lowing resolution was adopted ( Journal , Vol. VII, p. IIS): 

^^ Resolved, That the Illinois Code of 1 88 1, including the 
" legislation of this session, be and is hereby adopted as the 
" law of this jurisdiction ; and that all previous laws, decisions 
*' and precedents not therein included be and hereby are 
"declared of no force and effect; and that the said Code be 
" hereafter recognized and cited as the law of this jurisdiction 
" in all matters enacted and decided by this Grand Lodge up 
" to this date." 



O O ID E 

OF THE 

LAWS or THE lO.O.F. 

3^0E; XXjXjXISrOIS. 



CHAPTER I. 
The Sovereign Grand Lodge. 

1. The Sovereign Grand Lodge of the Independent Order 
of Odd-Fellows is the head and source of all legitimate Odd- 
Fellowship everywhere, with sole power to plant it in any 
country. Its constitution and laws are the supreme laws- of the 
Order. Sov. Const., Arts, i, xx ; Sov. 2860. 

When first established and organized as a body separate from the Grand 
Lodge of Maryland, January 15, 1825, the supreme body took the title of 
" The Grand Lodge of the United States of the LO.O.F." In 1878, it 
became "The Grand Lodge of the LO.O.F." In 1880, it took its present 
title. In this book the title "Sovereign Grand Lodge" is used for the 
supreme body, at every stage of its existence. 

2. All Grand Lodges and Grand Encampments exist by 
virtue of charters from the Sovereign Grand Lodge. In the 
United States, only one Grand Lodge and one Grand Encamp- 
ment is allowed in any state. These bodies are supreme in 
their own territory, except as controlled by the laws of the 
S.G.L. The S.G.L. can take the charter of a Grand Body for 
violation of the supreme laws, only : it can alter a charter only 
by consent of the body chartered. 

Sov. Const., Art. i ; Sov. 2860, 1090. 

New York had two Grand Bodies of each name from 1849 ^iH 1865, dis- 
tinguished as Northern N. Y. and Southern N. Y. Subordinate Lodges and 
Encampments not under any Grand Body are subordinate directly to the 
S.G.L. 



2 ILLINOIS ODD-FELLOWS' CODE. 

3. The Constitution (but not the By-laws) of each Grand 
Body, duly attested by the signature of the G.S. and by the seal, 
also all amendments, even though purely local and formal, must 
be sent to the S.G.L. for examination. If amendments are 
sent, the document must show how much is amendment; and 
the complete constitution must accompany the amendment. No 
constitution is binding until approved by the S.G.L. ; nor may 
any action whatever be taken under an amendment until it is 
approved. An amendment is in force as soon as it is approved 
by the S.G.L. 

Sov. By-Laws, Art. ix ; Sov. 1899, 1058, 1289, 2923, 1712, 

4929,2994,4146,5517. 

4. All documents sent to the S.G.L. must bear the seal of 
the body sending them, if it has one. Printed pamphlets or 
reports of proceedings unattested by seal or official signature are 
not recognized by the S.G.L. as official papers. Sov. 5519, 1 712. 

5. From the Constitution of a Grand Body, the S.G.L. 
can strike out any provision conflicting with its laws, even if 
previously "approved. Sov. 1090. 

6. The Sovereign Grand Lodge alone regulates the writ- 
ten and unwritten work of the Order: the written w^ork can be 
changed only by the vote of two-thirds of its members, and the 
unwritten work only by the vote of four-fifths of them. Con- 
trol of the customs and usages pertaining to the work, and the 
providing of suitable lectures and other written work, is in- 
cluded in this power. 

Sov. Const., Art. i, Sec. 5, as amended in 1880. 

The term lectures, as used in this section and in Sec. 37, means the writ- 
ten work which is read to the candidate or spoken to him or in his hearing 
in an initiation or in the conferring of a degree. It does not mean an 
address upon Odd-Fellowship; it has that meaning in Sees. 1117, 1118. 

7. All laws of general application to the Order come from 
the S.G.L. Unless otherwise specially provided, such laws go 
into effect on the first day of January after their passage, and 
unless, further, such a law requires legislation by a state juris- 
diction to carry it into effect. 

Sov. Const., Art. /, Sec. 8; Sov. 7910, 8090. 

8. The laws of the S.G.L. are to be sought in several 
different quarters, i. In its secret work, part of which is writ- 
ten and part is unwritten, the written work meaning its rituals, 



ILLINOIS ODD-FELLOWS' CODE. 6 

etc. 2. In its Journals, published yearly with pages in consecu- 
tive numbering irrespective of volumes. The Journal of 1881 
ends with p. 8826. 3. In its Constitution, By-Laws, and Rules 
of Order, which have been compiled mostly from the Journal. 
4. In the first Digest of its laws, know^i as the Griffin Digest, or 
Digest of 1847 • this differs from all other Digests of its laws in 
authority, because it was declared to be itself law and was thus 
made law by action recorded in the Journal of 1847, P- 1094. 
All later Digests are inferior in authority to the Journals, and are 
declared to be mere compilations : an enactment of the S.G.L. 
is law, even if not found in the Digests. ^Soil 5931). 5. In 
usage, which is to some extent recognized as a source of law. 

9. Inquiries as to the laws and usages of the Order, unless 
they be connected with a case of appeal or be submitted by a 
Grand Body, will not be entertained by the S.G.L., in whatever 
form presented. Sov. By-Laws, Art. xxix ; Sov. 5525. 

10. The S.G.L. is composed only of its officers and of rep- 
resentatives, called Grand Representatives, elected by the Grand 
Bodies. Past Grand Sires are admitted to seats w4th the privi- 
lege of moving and debating, but not of voting, nor of acting on 
committees, unless they are Grand Representatives. Represen- 
tatives from a majority of the whole number of constituent 
Grand Bodies are necessary to form a quorum ; but a less- num- 
ber may adjourn from day to day, and may receive and act upon 
credentials, except in case of contested elections. All officers 
and members of the S.G.L. receive per diem; and all, except 
those from jurisdictions outside of North America, receive mile- 
age. Sov. Const, Arts, ii, x, xiii, xvii ; Sov. 7354, 8322. 

11. Every Grand Body has one Grand Representative : if 
it has over one thousand members in its subordinates, it has two 
Grand Representatives. It pays to the S.G.L. an annual tax of 
seventy-five dollars for each Grand Representative to which it is 
entitled, whether elected and in attendance or not. When one 
only of the two Representatives is present, he casts two votes, 
except in elections. Sov. Const., Arts, ix, xiv ; Sov. 2497, 3237. 

The casting of two votes by one Representative began in 1834 (first 
recorded instance, Sov. 172), when, under the Constitution of 1833, two votes 
(not two Reps.) were allowed to each Grand Lodge having more than 1,000 
members. But two Representatives were admitted to cast two votes {Sov. 
156). The custom continued without positive law ; but it was recognized 
and settled in 1850, by decisions on questions of order. — Sov. 1622. 



4 ILLINOIS ODD-FELLOWS' CODE. 

12. A Grand Representative must be, at the time of elec- 
tion and through his term, a P.G. in good standing, and in good 
standing as a R.P.D. member of an Encampment. 

Sov. 2765, 2892, 6752, 7089. 

13. A Grand Representative can represent but one Grand 
Body, and must reside in its territory. Grand Representatives 
are chosen by Grand Bodies for two years, and are divided into 
two classes, whose seats are vacated annually in rotation. A 
Grand Body may not choose an alternate Representative, but 
may provide how to fill actual vacancies. The term of a Grand 
Representative begins with the session of the S.G.L. next after 
his election or appointment. No newly elected Grand Repre- 
sentative has any rights as such until his credentials have been 
passed upon by the body to which he has been elected. Until 
he is so admitted to membership, he has no right, in any manner 
or for any purpose, to claim the title or exercise any of the func- 
tions of a member of the body. 

Sov. Const., Art. ix ; Sov. 1470, 15 17, 6984. 

From the last part of this section it follows that a Grand Representa- 
tive elect, prior to the session of the S.G.L. following his ele- tion or ap- 
pointment, cannot take the title of Grand Representative (1829), wear the 
regalia (2781), or introduce visitors by the privilege of a Grand Represen- 
tative {Sees. 149, ^35). It follows further that these privileges belong to 
his predecessor until the session. A member of the S.G.L. is properly 
addressed or referred to in the debates or proceedings by the term Repre- 
sentative, not by the term gentle7itan. The title or rank of a brother is, in 
designation of the name and rank together, to be put after the name, not 
btfore it. Example {Sov. 4848), ''Brother Nicholson, P.G. Sire"; former 
style {Sov, 4372), " P.G. Sire, Veitch." — Sov. 2517, 4372. 

14. Grand Bodies may instruct their Representatives in 
matters pertaining particularly to them; but to instruct them 
in matters of interest to the entire Order is highly inexpedient. 
Grand Representatives may present to the S.G.L. the instruc- 
tions that they have received ; but in order to have the subject- 
matter referred to a committee, or acted upon by the Grand 
Lodge, the Representative must submit the same in the form of 
a resolution or amendment, as the nature of the subject may 
require. S071. 1250, 4820. 

15. A Grand Representative must have a proper certifi- 
cate (a duplicate copy of which must be sent, immediately upon 
his election, by the Grand Secretary or Grand wScribe to the 
Grand Secretary of the S.G.L.) and be furnished by his Grand 
Body with all necessary documents. He will receive in the 



ILLINOIS ODD-FELLOWS' CODE, 5 

S.G.L. the G.E. degree and all side degrees, if not already 
acquired; but he gains thereby no rank or privilege of mem- 
bership or visiting in a G.E. [Note to Sec. 13.) In case of con- 
tested election, the S.G.L. , and not the electing or appointing 
power, is judge of the right to a seat; and in such case mileage 
and per diem is not allowed to the unsuccessful claimant. 
Sov. Const., Ai^ts. ix, xiii ; By-Laws, Art. xvii ; Sov. 281 1, 491 , 

1148, 2892, 2166. 

16. When an appeal from a Grand Lodge is before the 
S.G.L., the Grand Representative of that Grand Lodge may 
vote on the decision of it. Sov. 2504. 

17. An officer of the S.G.L., or a Representative thereto, 
or an officer of a state Grand Body, taking a withdrawal card 
does not vacate his office thereby, if the same be immediately 
deposited in his state Grand Body accompanying an application 
for a new charter, or if, on occasion of change of residence, the 
card be within one month deposited in a subordinate at his new 
residence ; provided that, while holding such withdrawal card, 
and until such new Lodge or Encampment be instituted, such 
person can discharge no official act. And in case of the ex- 
tinction of a Subordinate Encampment or Lodge in which an 
officer or member of the S.G.L. holds membership, the i^eat of 
such officer or Representative is not vacated thereby, provided 
that within one month after such extinction he connects himself 
with some other Subordinate Encampment or Lodge. 

Sov. 281 1, 3000. 

18. A duly elected and commissioned Grand Representa- 
tive who fails to take his seat in the S.G.L. at the first session of 
his term does not forfeit his office and his seat at the next ses- 
sion, unless he be arraigned and removed for neglect of duty 
under vthe laws of his own Grand Body, which may so deal with 
him. On the other hand, presence in the session of the S.G.L. 
on duty is a sufficient excuse for absence from duty in the state 
Grand Body, and releases him from disqualification therefor. 

Sov. 1992, 2109, 820. 

ig. The Officers of the S.G.L. are Grand Sire, Deputy 
Grand Sire, Grand Secretary, and Grand Treasurer, elected; 
and Grand Chaplain, Grand Marshal, Grand Guardian, and 
Grand Messenger, nominated by the Grand Sire and approved 
by the S.G.L. Officers are chosen in the even numbered years 



6 ILLINOIS ODD-FELLOWS' CODE. 

(1870, 1872, etc.), installed at the close of the same session, and 
hold office for two years. Elective officers have the privilege of 
moving and debating, but not, as officers, of voting : appointive 
officers have these privileges only by vote of the S.G.L. Officers 
must have the G.L. and G.E. Degrees, as well as the qualifica- 
tions of Representatives. i^Sec. 12). Sov. Const., Arts, ii, ix, xv. 

20. The Grand Sire is the presiding officer of the vS.G.L., 
and has general superintendence of the interests of. the Order 
during recess ; and while he is Grand Sire he can hold no other 
office. He can decide appeals submitted to him, or questions 
of the laws of the S.G.L. presented to him by a Grand Master, 
Grand Patriarch or Grand Representative ; and his decisions on 
such questions are binding on the parties until reversed by the 
S.G.L. No Lodge or Encampment, subordinate to any State, 
District or Territorial Grand Lodge or Encampment, has a right 
to present questions of law directly to the Grand wSire for his 
decision. All such questions must go through the channel pro- 
vided by the local law. Sov. Const.., Art. iv ; Sov. 5194. 

Comparing this section with Sec. 122 below, it is seen that the decisions of 
a Grand Sire not confirmed by the S.G.L. are not made law except to the 
parties to whom given, while those of a Grand Master are valid until re- 
versed. 

21. The duties of the other officers of the S.G.L. are such 
as may be inferred from their titles, except that the Grand Mes- 
senger is the assistant of the Grand Secretary. The seal of the 
S.G.L. is in the official keeping of the Grand Secretary, and can 
be affixed only to documents and papers issuing regularly from 
his office. Sov. Const.., Arts, iv-viii ; Sov. 600, 1092, 4395. 

22. The Grand Sire is vested with both judicial and execu- 
tive functions, to see to the enforcement of the laws, and some- 
times judicially to expound them; but he has no authority to 
suspend, by dispensation or otherwise, the operation of a valid 
law, either of the S.G.L. or of a Grand Body under it. Even a 
decision of the Grand Sire approved by the S.G.L. cannot 
supersede or set aside a by-law of the S.G.L. 

Sov. 3182, 4598-9, 4841, 4842; special application, 4467. 

23. Whenever the Grand Sire thinks it necessary for the 
advancement and welfare of the Order in any portion of the 
jurisdiction that an official visit shall be made, he is authorized 
to make such visitation, in person or by deputy, at the expense 



ILLINOIS ODD-FELLOWS' CODE. 7 

of the wS.G.L. ; but if he is called upon by a jurisdiction to make 
such visit, it shall bear the expense. Sov. 5164. 

24. The S.G.L. meets annually on the third Monday of 
vSeptember, at place determined from time to time. [Generally 
at Baltimore, where the qffice of the Grand Secretary is.] It 
may hold special meetings on three months', notice from the 
Cxrand wSire to the Grand Representatives, and can then trans- 
act only the business named in the call. In certain emer- 
gencies the Grand Sire may fix date and place of the regular 
meeting. Sov. Const. ^ A7^t. xii. 

25. Visitors are admitted to the sessions of the S.G.L. 
when vouched for and introduced to the Grand Guardian by a 
Representative from the jurisdiction to which the visitor belongs; 
but the Representative cannot vouch for him unless he is a Past 
Grand having the G.L. Degree and the R.P. Degree, and in 
good standing in his Lodge and Encampment. Secret sessions 
admit none but the actual members of the S.G.L. 

Sov. 727, 4993, 5467, 8339, 8749. 

In 1857 and 1878 {Sov. 2733, 2745, 7703), special action of the S.G.L. 
authorized the conferring of the Encampment Degrees to authorize a brother 
to be admitted as a G. Rep. in one case, and to visit in the other. In 1876 

6936) the D.G. Sire was authorized to confer the G.L. Degree on a D.D.G. 

Sire for the same reason. In 1880 and 1881, the rule about secret sessions 
was relaxed {Sov. 8339, 8749), former members of the S.G.L., and some 
others being allowed to attend them. 

26. A Journal of the Proceedings of the S.G.L. is kept; 
and all proceedings, except those in secret session, are published 
annually. [Sec. 68.) Sov. Const., Art. xiii, Sec. 4. 

27. The revenue of the S.G.L. is from the sale of sup- 
plies; from dues from Grand Bodies, seventy-five dollars for 
each Representative ; charter fees, thirty dollars each ; and a per- 
centage on the revenues of Lodges and Encampments directly 
subordinate. The fiscal year of the S.G.L. commences on the 
first day of January and terminates on the thirty-first day of 
December; and all Grand and Subordinate Lodges and Encamp- 
ments are required to make their annual reports to correspond 
with the fiscal year. 

Sov. Const., Art. xiv\ By-Laivs, Art. xxvi\ Sov. 5218. 

To meet a deficiency, the S.G.L., in 1849, 1^^*^ 3-" assessment upon its 
constituent Grand Bodies in proportion to the number of members in their 
subordinates. Some influential Grand Bodies paid after delay and under 
protest ; but the assessment was inforced ; and claims for a refunding of it 
were refused. Nor has the S.G.L. yielded its power to make such or other 



% 



8 ILLINOIS ODD-FELLOWS' CODE. 

assessments, though that assessment was not repeated in 1850; on the con^ 
trary, it emphatically reaffirmed the power in 1880. — Sov. 1490, 1498, 1509-10; 
1578, 1612-13, 1639-40, 1687, 1762-3, 2925, 8409-10. 

*^* The purpose of this Chapter I is to give a mere outline of the organiza- 
tion of the Sovereign Grand Lodge and of its workings ; the topics here given, 
and such others as are treated elsewhere in this work, and are to be found by 
the index, are sufficient to guide all members of Grand and Subordinate 
Lodges in any duties that relate to the Sovereign Grand Lodge. Those 
whose position or curiosity requires further information must seek it in the 
Journals and in the Digests of the Sovereign Body. The relations of the 
S.G.L. to Grand and Subordinate Lodges and their work, appear in the 
following chapters. 



CHAPTER IL 

General Laws Respecting Grand Bodies, Especially 
Grand Lodges. 

28. At least five Past Grands are necessary to constitute 
a Grand Lodge ; without so many it becomes defunct, and its 
charter is forfeited. Sov. 115. 

29. Each Grand Lodge consists of all the Past Grands in 
good standing within its jurisdiction; but by its constitution it 
may restrict its legislative power to such representative basis as it 
may deem best for the transaction of business. It may provide 
that Past Grands who are not Representatives may not vote in 
Grand Lodge except upon the election of officers, and that they 
may not serve on committees or make motions. But it may not 
abridge the privileges of their rank. {^Sec. 309.) 

U. S. Digest of 1847, /• 43; Sov. 1084, 1119, 1126, 1289, 

1321,4857- 

30. The certificate given to a Past Officer to gain member- 
ship in a Grand Body is merely prima-facie evidence of quali- 
fication. If the Grand Body finds the certificate incorrect in 
statement of facts (for example, as to service in office), the cer- 
tificate may be set aside and the seat given thereon may be va- 
cated. Where the fundamental law does not otherwise provide, 
every representative body must judge the qualifications of its 
members. But a Grand Lodge may not refuse admission, mem- 



ILLINOIS ODD-FELLOWS' COD^. 9 

bership, right to a seat and vote, to any Past Grand properly 
accredited from his Lodge, even though he has not the P.W. of 
the current term. Sov. 2482, 5922, 7910. 

31. Every member who has been elected Noble Grand and 
served one term as such is entitled to membership in the Grand 
Lodge of his state ; and that body cannot refuse him a seat because 
of neglect of his Lodge to make due returns for his term, nor can it 
charge him any fee for admission and for the G.L. Degree. It 
may not require him to have the P.O. Degrees. 

Sov. By-Laws, Art. xxiii ; Sov. 1084, 1656, 8090. 

32. The certificate of a Lodge in which a brother has 
passed the chairs averring that fact is, in the Grand Lodge of 
another jurisdiction, if presented in connection with evidence of 
membership in the latter jurisdiction, sufficient warrant to said 
Grand Lodge for conferring the G.L. and P.O. Degrees. The 
Grand Lodge Degree may be conferred upon Past Grands be- 
longing to subordinates under the immediate jurisdiction of the 
S.G.L., by a State or Territorial Grand Body, on the presentation 
of a proper certificate, signed by the Grand Sire and Grand Secre- 
tary, and attested by the seal of the S.G.L. Sov. 5495-6, 6615. 

33. The official term of Grand Officers, except of Grand 
Representatives, is one year; but if a Grand Body lawfully 
changes its sessions from annual to biennial, the term of officers 
shall be two years. Sov. 8387, 1840, 1897. 

34. Clause I. Special sessions may be held by a Grand 
Lodge as often as may be deemed necessary in its jurisdiction, 
to give instruction in the unwritten work of the Order and to 
confer the Past Official and Grand Lodge Degrees. (Sec. ^y^.) 

Clause 2. Special sessions, as above provided for, may be 
held at such places within the jurisdiction of such Grand Body 
as may be determined by the Grand Master. At such session no 
business shall be transacted other than is provided for in the first 
clause. ;, 

Clause 3. The Grand Master, the Deputy Grand Master, or 
the Grand Warden and ihe Grand Secretary, shall be required to 
attend such special sessions ; but it shall not be obligatory on any 
other officer or Lodge Representative to attend. Any Past 
Grand of said jurisdiction being in good standing may attend; 
and five Past Grands shall constitute a quorum for the transaction 
of the business of such meetings or Special Degree Sessions. 



10 ILLINOIS ODD-PELLOWS' CODE. 

Clause 4. Past Officers from any part of the jurisdiction in 
which such special sessions are held, and entitled to membership 
in such Grand Body, shall be privileged to attend, and receive 
the degrees and instruction to be given by the Grand Officers. 

Clause 5. Unless a Grand Lodge enacts a law for such ses- 
sions, a Grand Master cannot call them. The Grand Secretary 
and either one of the other officers named with him in clause 3 
must be in attendance and enough members to make a quorum. 

Sov. 8079, 8210. 

35. The Seat of a Grand Body is, until legally changed, 
at the place designated in its charter. But Grand Bodies may, 
subject to their constitutions and by-laws, change their places of 
meeting at pleasure. When there are two halls in the same 
city in which a Grand Body has held sessions, it is the duty of 
its presiding officer, in the absence of any legislation on the sub- 
ject, to call the next meedng in that hall where it held the last 
session, unless there is some cause for changing the place of 
meeting to the other hall. Sov. 3820, 1897, 2859. 

36. Grand Lodges work only in the Grand Lodge Degree, 
which can be conferred only upon Past Grands, and only at the 
session of the Grand Lodge, either in the principal room, or by 
permission of the Grand Lodge, in some adjacent room. {^Sec. 313.) 
But a Grand Lodge may open in the Third Degree of a Subordi- 
nate Lodge for the purpose of installing Grand Officers, and for 
that purpose only. Sov. 1090, 5501. 

In 1848 {see Sov. 1272), the Constitution of the Grand Lodge of Illinois 
was approved, with a section {^n, 5) providing for having Grand Installa- 
tions in the Third or Scarlet Degree. In 1852, a committee of the S.G.L. 
reported against such a provision in the Constitution of the Grand Lodge of 
Wisconsin; but the constitution was approved without alteration. — See Sov. 
1888, 1952. 

37. Each Grand Body must enforce upon its subordinates 
a strict adherence to the Work of the Order, according to the 
forms determined upon by the S.G.L. ; and it cannot use, or 
suffer to be used, within its jurisdiction, any charges, lectures {Sec. 
6, /2 (9/^), degrees, forms of installation, ceremonies or regalia, other 
than those prescribed by the S.G.L. [Sec. 864 enlarges and 
applies this.) Sov. By-Laws., Art. xx. 

38. The appointment of competent brothers to make an- 
nual visits to their subordinates for the purpose of instructing 
them in the work, is recommended to the State Grand Bodies. 

Sov. 1 080- 1. 



tLLINOlS ODD-FELLOWS' CODE. 11 

39. The Officers of a Grand Lodge are Grand Master, 
Deputy Grand Master, Grand Warden, Grand wSecretary, Grand 
Treasurer, Grand Marshal, Grand Representative, Grand Con- 
ductor, Grand Guardian. These are elective officers, except the 
Grand Marshal, Grand Conductor and Grand Guardian, who 
are appointed by the Grand Master. A Grand Lodge may 
create such other officers as its convenience *may require. 

U. S. Digest of 1%^;] ^ 46; Sov. 1476, 2214. 

The G.L. Illinois, under constitution approved by the S.G.L. in 1848, 
(,5'^;^'. 1272), elected all its officers, from 1848 to i860 inclusive. Moore's 
Digest {U. S. Dig. ^1853) says that all may be elective if the local laws so 
provide; but no such law was ever enacted. 

40. A Grand Lodge judicially knows nothing of any degree 
but those belonging to its jurisdiction, and cannot require any of 
its members to be in possession of them. Thus it cannot require 
the Royal Purple Degree nor membership in an Encampment as 
a qualification for the office of Grand Master. 

Sov. 2479, 2487, 2493. 

41. Grand Officers whose term has been shortened by 
change of time of meeting of the Grand Lodge may receive the 
honors of office for less than one year's service ; but honors may 
not be allowed for the period of three or four months, except to 
officers filling a vacancy. Sov. 1484, 1840, 1897. 

42. All Past Grands may vote for Grand Officers without 
being present in the Grand Lodge, if that body makes laws for 
that purpose ; but a Grand Lodge may not extend the suffrage to 
any brothers not qualified for membership in the Grand Lodge. 

Sov. 1737, 1754. 

43. Past Grands cannot vote by proxy. A Grand Lodge 
may provide in its constitution that, after the P.G's have voted 
for Grand Officers and there is no election, the election may be 
determined by votes of Representatives of subordinates only : 
and a vacancy may be filled by election at which Representa- 
tives only vote : but in no other "cases may a Grand Body elect 
officers by Representatives' votes only. 

Sov. 3134, 2975, 8210, 7762-3. 

44. If a Grand Lodge Constitution provides that its offi- 
cers shall each have a vote and that every Representative shall 
have a vote, then an officer who is also a Representative has, 
legally, two votes. Sov. 7771. 



12 tLtmolS ODD-FELLOWS* CODE. 

45. If the Constitution of a Grand Body conflicts with 
the laws of the S.G.L., it cannot be amended summarily, but 
amendment must pursue the regular course prescribed by the 
Constitution. In any case, the constitution of a state Grand 
Body can be amended only in the manner prescribed by the 
constitution itself. A pending amendment to the Constitution or 
By-Laws of a Gram! or Subordinate Body cannot be amended 
when under consideration, unless the local law permits it. 

Sov. 5804, 6250, 7419. 

46. A Revised Constitution comes under the rule of 
amendments as to the vote necessary to adopt it. Sov. 21 16. 

47. If a two-thirds majority is required by a G.L. Con- 
stitution to adopt a pending amendment, unless it expressly 
specifies that it requires the vote of two-thirds of the Lodges of 
the jurisdiction, an affirmative vote of two-thirds of the members 
present is sufficient to adopt the amendment. And if the con- 
stitution requires a certain majority of the votes of the Lodges, 
the vote by Lodges must be taken : even a unanimous affirma- 
tive vote of all present does not make a legal amendment. 

Sov. 3092, 7036. 

48. Grand Bodies are bound to observe their own constitu- 
tions, by-laws and laws. This is a deduction from a. large num- 
ber of appeal cases (such being usually settled in accordance 
with the local laws), and from direct statements. See in confir- 
mation these especially : 

Sov. 3469, 2788, 3251-2, 3681-2, 3817-19, 4591-4. 

But a Grand Body may, at pleasure, after its legislation, and 
review, affirm or reverse its former decisions. A by-law, or any 
law for legal change of which a specific course of procedure is 
required, cannot be repealed, altered, or set aside by a mere 
resolution, or by any other than the regular course. 

Sov. 7087, 6568. 

49. A Grand Lodge has power to expel a member from its 
own body, but it has no power to expel a member altogether 
from the Order, though it may order a subordinate to try one of 
its members, which order the subordinate must obey. A Grand 
Lodge may refuse to try a member upon charges duly presented. 

Sov. 1089, 6964, 7770. 

50. It is an inherent power in all corporate and kindred 



ILLINOIS ODD-FELLOWS' CODE. 13 

bodies to provide for their existence and support, whether such 
power be or be not expressed in their organic law. Grand Lodges 
have power to assess their subordinates to raise revenue for 
current expenses and for deficiencies. The members of the 
Grand Lodge may not be taxed out of their private means ; but 
the ratio of membership in the Grand Lodge may form the basis 
of an assessment to be paid by the subordinates out of their 
funds. The enumeration of some modes of raising money does 
not exclude other methods, in the absence of exclusive language. 

Sov. 3468, 2925. 

51. When the Constitution of a Grand Lodge provides for 
the payment of expenses of officers and representatives attending 
its session, it may not by resolution appropriate its funds for the 
payment of the Past Grands in attendance. A Grand Body may 
not use its funds to provide a dinner for its members. 

Sov. 3682-3, 5197, 7813. 

A Grand Lodge appropriated money for the Washington National Mon- 
ument, an object outside the purposes of the Order. As its constitution had 
no restriction upon such use of its funds, the action was not disapproved. 
— Sov. 1723. 

52. A Grand Body has no power to levy a tax or assess- 
ment upon its subordinates or their members for the pui*pose of 
providing places or asylums for orphans, widowed families, or 
valetudinary members of the Order. Sov. 5906, 5949, 6572. 

53. For the purposes of charity, no Grand Lodge has the 
right to assess its subordinates or to compel them to pay assess- 
ments. Subordinates should be their own judges as to their 
ability to pay money for such purposes. A Grand Body may 
not compel subordinates to contribute to the treasury of a Board 
of General Relief. * Sov. 8076. 

54. For the establishment or support of Odd-Fellows' 
Libraries, no sum as dues or otherwise may be required of the 
members of subordinates by authority of a Grand Body. Nor 
may it reach such result indirectly by including aid to a library 
in its own estimated expenditures, and raising a tax to pay such 
estimates. Sov. 7381, 8651. 

55. A Life Insurance scheme, compulsory upon all mem- 
bers and lodges in a jurisdiction, or any legislation equivalent 
thereto, is contrary to the settled principles of the Order, and may 
not be adopted by any Grand Body. Sov. 7038, 8442. 



14 ILLINOIS ODD-FELLOWS' CODE. 

56. Auxiliary Endowment Benefit Associations may be 
formed by any members of the Order in good standing in any, 
several or all jurisdictions. The machinery for working the 
associations may be through the Grand Lodges of the respective 
jurisdictions and the officers of Subordinate Lodges, but no action 
of said Subordinate Grand Bodies and Lodges under their jurisdic- 
tion shall in any way bind the moneys or funds of either Grand or 
Subordinate Lodges for the purpose of carrying out the provis- 
ions which may be adopted by Auxiliary Endowment Benefit 
Associations hereinbefore mentioned. The only obligation the 
several Lodges shall be under is to secure, without incurring 
pecuniary liability on their part, from their respective officers 
the faithful discharge of such duties as the said endow- 
ment benefit associations may impose upon them. Should 
two, or several. Subordinate Grand Jurisdictions desire to estab- 
lish an auxiliary benefit association on the voluntary plan, 
arrangements for the same may be agreed upon by the Grand 
Lodges interested, in keeping with the provisions heretofore 
stated; and the Grand Masters and Grand Secretaries of the 
jurisdictions concerned shall lend all necessary aid, in the way of 
correspondence, in their power. Any plan for an endowment 
benefit association, which may be adopted by one or more Sub- 
ordinate Grand Jurisdictions, may exist and be controlled by 
such laws as may be sanctioned by the jurisdictions interested, 
all zvithin the tei^nis of the pi'ovisions conditioned above. 

Sov. 8065-6. 

57. Widows and Orphans' Endowments, of any nature 
whatsoever, may be established by Grand Bodies, provided they 
are founded upon a basis of voluntary contributions ; but it is 
against the organic law of the Order to make forced assessments 
for that purpose. The formation of Widows and Orphans' En- 
dowments by those members of the Order who may form, in the 
several jurisdictions, an auxiliary association for that purpose, is 
recommended. Sov. 7363. 

58. A uniform constitution may be made by a Grand 
Body for its subordinates ; it may enact laws for their govern- 
ment, being the legislative head of the Order in its jurisdiction. 
It may not prescribe constitution and laws to . a volunteer relief 
committee or benevolent association connected with the Order, 
l)ut not created by itself. Sov. 1235-6, 1786, 496, 3030. 

59. To deprive a subordinate of its charter without trial 



ILLINOIS ODD-FELLOWS' CODE, 15 

is an act of injustice, contrary to the spirit and usage of the 
Order. Sov. 2959. 

An early decision of the S.G.L. said that a Grand Lodge may, when its 
own laws do not forbid such proceedings {Sec. 48), deprive a Lodge of its 
charter without previous notice or opportunity for vindication ; but it is an 
act of injustice, and contrary to the spirit and usage of the Order. {Sov. 812, 
1245). But in all cases of this sort brought by appeal before the S.G.L., the 
action of the Grand Lodge has been set aside, including a case in which a 
Degree Lodge was thus treated. {Sov. 1255, 2959). The latest declaration 
is that given as law, which accords with usage. See, too, the Belfast Lodge 
case, 1879. {Sov. 8087, 8175). But in this case there was local law that 
governed the matter. 

60. State Grand Lodges are directed to prohibit their sub- 
ordinates from assembling in convention for any legislation, 
without consent of their Grand Lodges. A Grand Lodge may 
organize a convention to devise and report a constitution ; but 
such convention is a mere committee to compile a document for 
the action of the Grand Lodge, which cannot delegate its legis- 
lative powers. The convention can pass no law, nor do any 
binding act. It would be dangerous to recognize any legislative 
power in such bodies. A convention of Past Grands as Repre- 
sentatives from their Lodges and intended to redress some local 
grievance is illegal. Sov. 1786, 1109, 1076, 2215. 

61. Names and numbers of subordinates which have been 
extinct over twenty years may be used again in the same juris- 
diction, by permission of the Grand Body. Sov. 5949, 7008. 

62. When there are two adjacent Grand Lodge jurisdic- 
tions, as A and B, Grand Lodge A may, by law, permit a person 
resident in its own jurisdiction to join a Lodge in jurisdiction B,' 
if he resides nearer to the location of such subordinate in B than 
to any Lodge in jurisdiction A. In absence of such general law 
such person can join the Lodge in B only by special permission 
of the Grand Master of A. [Sec. 380.) ' Sov. 3485. 

63. A Grand Body has a right to omit from its records such 
part of its proceedings as, in its judgment, should not appear 
upon record. Sov. 191 6. 

64. Clause I. When any jurisdiction shall suffer under 
some great calamity, and a relief committee shall be duly author- 
ized to receive and disburse money to the sufferers, it shall be 
the duty of the Grand Master of such jurisdiction to see that the 
Treasurer of such fund shall execute and deliver to him a bond 



16 ILLINOIS ODD-FELLOWS' CODE, 

to secure the money placed, or to be placed, in his hands for the 
purposes of relief. 

Clause 2. One of the conditions of said bond shall be, that 
should there be any surplus left in his hands after the purposes 
for which such fund is contributed have been completed and 
performed, then that said obligor shall pay the same to the Grand 
Treasurer of the S.G.L. upon the order of the Grand Sire. 

Clause 3. In such an event as is set forth in the first resolu- 
tion, any committee appointed to administer a relief fund shall 
by required, within a reasonable time, to make to the Grand 
Master of the jurisdiction a full and complete report of their 
proceedings in the premises, and especially if there should be a 
surplus of money on hand, to report the amount thereof. 

Clazise 4. Should any surplus of said moneys be reported as 
aforesaid, the Grand Master shall notify the Grand Sire of the 
same, who shall forthwith proceed to draw for the same to the 
order of the Grand Treasurer of the S.G.L. 

Clause 5. Any such surplus of moneys that shall come to the 
hands of the Grand Treasurer as aforesaid shall be invested and 
held by him under the orders of S.G.L., to be kept for such pur- 
poses of special relief as may seem best to conserve the purposes 
for which they were contributed. Sov. 6578. 

65. Annual returns must be made by each Grand Body to 
the Grand Secretary of the S.G.L. at least one month before the 
regular session of the S.G.L., to correspond with the fiscal year 
of the S.G.L. {Sec. 27); and they must be accompanied with the 
dues to the S.G.L. in money current at Baltimore. These returns 
must be according to a form prescribed and furnished by the 
S.G.L., and must give the names of Grand Officers, number of sub- 
ordinates, with their statistics of membership, increase, decrease, 
revenue and relief. And when a Grand Body is in arrears in 
account with the S.G.L., at its session, its Representatives are 
not admitted to a seat in that body or to vote. The Grand Sec- 
retary of the S.G.L. is required to furnish for the Committee on 
Credentials a statement of Grand Bodies in arrears, to secure 
enforcement of this law. 

Sov. By-lazvs, Art. x, xi; Sov. 1613, 2530, 2707. 

66. Grand Secretaries and Grand Scribes must send with 
their Annual Returns to the S.G.I^. the names and post-office 
addresses of their respective Grand Masters and Grand Patriarchs, 
and of themselves, and also the times and places of meeting of 



ILLINOIS ODD-FELLOWS' CODE, 17 

their Grand Bodies ; these are regularly appended to the Journals 
of the S.G.L. Sov. 2734. 

67. Each Grand Body must have a Grand Seal, a wax im- 
pression of which must be sent to the Grand Secretary of the 
S.G.L. and deposited in the archives of that body. 

Sov. By-Laws, Art. viii. 

68. Each Grand Body is entitled to receive as many 
printed copies of the annual proceedings of the S.G.L. {^Sec. 26) 
as it has in number subordinates working under its jurisdiction, 
to be distributed among its subordinates {^Sec. 1041); and one- 
half of such number for its own use. Sov. By-Lazvs, Art. xviii. 

69. The following matters are specifically referred to " local 
legislation," meaning generally the legislation of Grand Bodies. 
(All references are to the Journal of the S.G.L.) 

Clause I. The holding of office in a subordinate by a Grand 
Master (2858); the mode of reaching a Grand Master to obtain 
a decision (3415); the place of a Grand Representative in a pro- 
cession (2215); how the A.T.P.W. shall be communicated to the 
G.M. or G.S. (3621); the grant of the privilege of voting to 
Grand Officers (2467-8) ; whether an amendment to a constitu- 
tion or by-law shall be amendable at time of adoption (7419). 

Clause 2. Payment of officers in a subordinate (31 17); the 
reelection of officers of subordinates (4182); and the displace- 
ment of officers for non-attendance (5180). 

Clause j>. The passage of laws permitting subordinates in 
other jurisdictions to admit to membership persons residing in 
the jurisdiction of the enacting Grand Body, but nearest to such 
subordinates (3485) ; the prohibition of the admission of a per- 
son living nearer some other subordinate than that to which he 
applies (2560); the number of times a candidate maybe pro- 
posed after rejection on application for initiation or admission by 
card (2560); the length of time that must pass before a new 
proposition (2214); the ceremony of introduction on deposit of 
card (2146); whether membership in case of admission by card 
begins at election or at introduction and signing the constitution 
(2146); the terms of admission to membership of non-affiliated 
Odd-Fellows of ten or more years' standing, over fifty years of 
age (4884) ; the admission, as non-beneficial members, of broth- 
ers of advanced age who were members in good standing of de- 
funct subordinates (3690) ; and the rules for the admission of 
holders of dismissal certificates {^Sec. 756), subject to Sov. By- 



18 ILLINOIS ODD-FELLOWS' CODE. 

Laws, Art. XIV (5182) ; the relief of one initiated under an as- 
sumed name (6187, 7031.) 

Clause 4. The subject of dues generally (1896); the time 
and manner of the payment of dues (7370) ; whether higher dues 
may be charged to a member going out of the state in which 
his subordinate is than to others ( 1 896) ; whether a sliding scale 
of fees and dues may be adopted (1896) ; by what vote a subor- 
dinate may invest its funds (2831); the adoption of minimum 
rates of dues (1724, 1797); fees for initiation and deposit of 
card (665, 1248, 1450-1); admission of members free of charge 
(665, 1248; see Sec. 441); whether fines are dues and by re- 
maining unpaid deprive of benefits (3689) ; whether a member's 
account must be paid fully to the end of a preceding term to 
enable him to receive the P.W. of a current term (2461, 2483); 
payment of fees for cards (2482); whether a subordinate may 
require payment of dues in advance, subject to certain laws and 
existing rights (7370). 

Clause 5. The subject of Benefits: the adoption of minimum 
rates of benefits (1724, 1797) ; the payment of different benefits 
to members of different grades (2562) ; the care of sick strangers 
(4391); the establishment of asylums for orphans and valetudi- 
nary members (4888) ; the time when members depositing cards 
shall be entitled to benefits (1451) ; whether a subordinate can 
continue to work on ceasing to pay benefits because unable to do 
so (2770, 2831); the way and manner of relief expenditures 

(4675). 

Clause 6. The use of a Q.P.W. in place of S.A.P.W. (1518) ; 
whether applications for cards shall be in writing when not in 
person (3030) ; the prices of degrees (811) ; the time, place and 
manner of conferring degrees, so far as not settled by general 
laws (1268, 1297); period of membership before receiving de- 
grees (1268, 1297); time of probation after refusal of degrees 
(1449) ; by whom and how P.O. Degrees may be conferred 
(1091) ; evidence of past office to entitle to degrees (1546); also 
the nature of the evidence upon which the G.L. or P.O. Degrees 
shall be given (1248); the adoption of the Rebekah Degree 
(5 1 91); the establishment of Degree and Rebekah-Degree 
Lodges (951, 4383) ; the time in which a rejected applicant for 
membership in a R.-D. Lodge may renew application (5187); 
the vote that shall elect to membership in such Lodges (5187). 

Clause 7. What regalia may be worn at funerals (2483); the 
fining of brothers who do not attend funerals ( 1 934) ; also, the 



ILLINOIS ODD-FELLOWS' CODE. 19 

propriety of extending funeral honors to brothers in arrears but 
not under charges at time of death (2780, 2818); whether the 
dead can be buried by a committee (6752), 

Clause 8. The annullment of withdrawal cards, so far as not 
settled by general laws (2145); whether a G.M. may reinstate 
an expelled person in recess of the G.L. (4467) ; the specific 
majority to be required in vote on reinstatement (5179) ; how 
expelled persons may be received back into the Order (6275); 
the matter of reinstatement of members suspended for N.P.D. 
(2736, 4848, see Sec. 756) ; the terms and evidence upon which 
a brother suspended for N.P.D. by a subordinate which has 
itself afterward surrendered its charter can be readmitted to mem- 
bership (3350, 3474) ; the preparation of a certificate for mem- 
bers of defunct Lodges (3621, Sec. 509) ; and the opening of a 
Lodge' without N.G., V.G. or P.G. present, except as the Rituals 
regulate it (1400, 1450). 

Clause g. The time when the semi-annual terms of subordi- 
nates shall begin and end, whether with January and July or with 
April and October (3489) ; whether terms shall be six months or 
one year (8076) ; whether the terms of a Grand Body itself shall 
be annual or biennial (8387). 



CHAPTER III. 

The Grand Lodge of Illinois: Its Organization, Members, 
Meetings, Rules, etc. 

70. Name. — This Lodge shall be known by the name and 
style of the " Grand Lodge of the State cf Illinois of the Inde- 
pendent Order of Odd- Fellows.'''' III. Const., Art. i. 

71. Powers. — This Grand Lodge, under the limitations im- 
posed upon it by its Charter and the Constitution and Laws of 
the Sovereign Grand Lodge, Independent Order of Odd-Fel- 
lows, possesses, within the State of Illinois, supreme legislative, 
executive and judicial authority. It has the right and power 
(i) to grant dispensations to establish Lodges; (2) to charter 
Lodges ; (3) to suspend or discontinue for cause any Lodge 



20 ILLINOIS ODb-FELLOWS' CODE. 

subordinate to it ; (4) to hear and determine all appeals from the 
actions and decisions of its Subordinate Lodges and from the 
decisions of the Grand Master; (5) to redress grievances of mem- 
bers and Lodges under its jurisdiction ; and (6) to do whatever 
is proper according to the usages of Odd-Fellowship and not in 
contravention of this Constitution or of the Constitution and 
Laws of the Sovereign Grand Lodge. No Lodge of the Order 
can exist in this state without its permission. ///. Const., Art. ii. 

72. Membership. — This Grand Lodge shall be composed of 
the following members, viz : One Representative (who must be 
a Past Grand in good standing) from each of the Lodges of the 
state, and all other Past Grands in good standing of Lodges of 
this jurisdiction. A Past Grand from another jurisdiction, be- 
coming a member of a Lodge in this state, may become a 
member of this Grand Lodge upon presenting a certificate of 
his official standing from the Grand Lodge of the jurisdiction 
from which his membership was transferred [but see Sec. 32] : 
Provided, however, that neither a Representative nor other Past 
Grand shall be a member of this Grand Lodge until he shall 
have received the Grand Lodge Degree. ///. Const., Art. Hi. 

73. Clattse I. The Representatives to this Grand Lodge 
shall be elected and hold office for two years ; one half of them 
being chosen each year. 

Clause 5. The Representatives shall be divided into two 
classes — the first class being those that represent odd-numbered 
Lodges, and the second class those that represent even-numbered 
Lodges. The first class shall be elected biennially in odd-num- 
bered years, and the second class biennially in even-numbered 
years. G.L. By-Laws, Art. ii. Sec. 9, Cls. I and ^. 

74. The following shall be the form of a certificate of a 
Representative to this Grand Lodge : 

LODGE, , I.O.O.F. 

To the Right Worthy Grand Lodge I.O.O.F. of the State of Illinois : 

This is to certify that , Past Grand, has been duly- 
elected Representative of this Lodge in your Right Worthy Body for two 
years. 

[l. s.] In testimony whereof we hereunto affix our hands and the 

seal of our Lodge, this day of , 18—. 

Attest, , Secretary. , N. G. 

G. L. By-laws, Art. ii, Sec. 8. 



ILLINOIS ODD-FELLOWS' CODE, 21 

75. Clause 2. Each Subordinate Lodge shall, on the night of 
and immediately after the installation of officers in July, bien- 
nially, from among the qualified Past Grands in membership in 
the Lodge, elect by ballot, and in the same manner as prescribed 
for the election of officers, one Representative to this Grand 
Lodge. 

Clause 3. Immediately after the election of Representative, 
each Lodge, by its officers, shall execute the proper certificate as 
set forth in the preceding section, in duplicate ; one copy of which 
shall be forwarded without delay, by mail, directed to the Grand 
Secretary ; the other copy shall be delivered to the Representa- 
tive elect. G.L. By-Laws, Art. ii, Sec. 9, Cls. 2 and 3. 

76. When the law of a Grand Lodge requires that a 
Representative shall be chosen from the Past Grands in its 
membership, the Noble Grand, unless he is a Past Grand by 
previous service, cannot be chosen Representative, as his term is 
not complete till his successor is installed. Sov. 5558, 621 1. 

77. A Representative can represent only the Lodge for 
* which he is a member, and he is entitled in course to his seat in 

the Grand Lodge the second year without a certificate of good 
standing. 

78. When a vacancy arises in the representation of a 
Lodge from any cause, the Lodge may, in its discretion, fill the 
same ; but the election for filling such vacancy shall not take 
place until the next regular meeting after the decision to fill the 
vacancy has been made ; Provided, however, that when, on 
account of such delay of one week, there will not be sufficient or 
reasonable time allowed to the Representative elect to prepare to 
attend the next ensuing session of the Grand Lodge or to travel 
thereto, the Lodge may fill the vacancy forthwith. 

G.L. By-Laws, Art. ii. Sec. 9, 67. 4. 

79. The Credentials of a Representative chosen to fill a 
vacancy should set forth that fact ; otherwise it will not be pre- 
sumed that he was so elected. 

80. Simply the failure or inability of a Representative to 
attend the session does not forfeit his right to the position to which 
he has been duly elected. Unless a vacancy occurs, the Lodge 
cannot legally elect or appoint another Representative. No per- 
son can be recognized as a substitute or a proxy for an absent 
Representative ; and brothers claiming to be Representatives 



Yi2i ILLINOIS ODD-FELLOWS' CODE. 

when not elected according to law, and when not holding legal 
certificates [Sec. 74) of election, cannot be entitled to mileage 
and per diem. A Representative has no right to appoint a 
proxy. 

81. Representatives are not entitled to mileage unless 
they attend the first two days of the session, except in cases of 
sickness or of detention by unavoidable circumstances, the state- 
ment of which is, in the opinion of the Committee on Mileage 
and Per Diem, a satisfactory excuse; and members leaving be- 
fore the close of the session are not entitled to mileage unless 
similarly excused, nor to per diem for more than time of actual 
attendance. It is considered disrespectful, and a contempt for 
any member of the Grand Lodge to leave the session without 
leave of absence first obtained. 

82. The annual and semi-annual reports of subordinates 
shall be accepted in behalf of Past Grands therein named as 's^vS.- 
^(i\^x\\. prinia-facie evidence of good standing and right to mem- 
bership. A Past Grand holding a withdrawal card, even though 
his card be in possession of the Grand Lodge accompanying a 
petition for a charter, cannot be admitted as a member (^Sec. 72). 

83. This Grand Lodge shall have power to punish by 
reprimand, fine or expulsion, any of its members who shall 
refuse to obey its laws, or who shall be guilty of conduct unbe- 
coming an Odd-Fellow.' '///. Const., A?'L Hi, Sec. 2. 

84. Sessions. — The Grand Lodge shall meet annually on 
the third Tuesday in November. This meeting shall be styled 
the Annual Session. Special Sessions shall be held on the call 
of the Grand Master. When in Annual or Special Session 
[except in those provided for in the next section], fifty representa- 
tive members shall be necessary to constitute a quorum for the 
transaction of business, and the Grand Lodge may adjourn from 
time to time until the business of the session shall have been 
disposed of. The Annual Session shall be held at the time and 
place designated by the Grand Lodge convened in annual ses- 
sion. A Special Session shall be held at the time and place 
designated by the Grand Master in the call. 

///. Const., Ai^t. vii, Sec, 1. 

85. The Degree Sessions of the Grand Lodge, called for 
the purpose of conferring the G.L. and P.O. Degrees (Sec. 34), 



ILLINOIS ODD-FELLOWS' CODE, 23 

may be called by the Grand Master at his discretion. But no 
expense for such sessions must accrue to the Grand Lodge other 
than the necessary traveling expenses of the Grand Officers whose 
attendance is obligatory. 

86. Sec. 2. At the Annual Sessions the elective Grand 
Officers shall be elected, and all business requiring the attention 
of the Grand Lodge transacted. At a Special Session no busi- 
ness shall be transacted, excepting that for which the session 
was called, which business must be distinctly stated in the call. 

vSec. 3. The Grand Lodge shall be opened in the Grand 
Lodge Degree at all times when engaged in transacting business 
of the Order. ///. Const., Art. vii, Sees. 2, 3. 

87. Meetings. — This' Grand Lodge shall, at each Annual 
Session, determine at what place its next session shall be held. 
It shall convene, on the first day of the session, at seven o'clock 
P.M., and adjourn from time to time until the business of the 
session is completed, unless otherwise ordered specially, by a 
vote of the Grand Lodge. 

Sec. 2. In the absence of the Grand Master and Deputy 
Grand Master, the chair may be taken, ^r^ tern., by any member 
of the Grand Lodge who may be called to it by a majority of 
the members present. 

Sec. 3. The meetings of the Grand Lodge shall be opened 
with prayer. G.L. By-Laws, Art. i. 

88. An invitation to hold the Annual Session of the 

Grand Lodge at any place shall, in all cases, be accompanied by 
a full statement of the capacity of the hotels, and the number of 
guests that can be received by them ; and no invitation shall be 
considered without such statement, verified by a Lodge located 
at the city where the Grand Lodge is invited to hold its session. 

89. The Constitution [of the Grand Lodge of Illinois] shall 
be altered or amended only by a proposition therefor in writing, 
submitted at an Annual Session, which proposition shall set 
forth the section proposed to be altered or amended as it would 
read if altered or amended as proposed. It shall be entered at 
length upon the Journal, and shall not be acted upon until the 
next Annual'^Session, when it may be considered and perfected 
by amendments, and if agreed to by two-thirds of the members 
present and voting, shall be adopted. ///. Const., Art. ix. 

This must be construed in connection with the S.G.L. law in section 47, 



24 ILLINOIS ODD-FELLOWS' CODE. 

above, which shows that a vote by lodges cannot be called on a proposition 
to amend the constitution, under the present language of this instrument. 

go. These articles [that is, the Constitution of Subordinate 
Lodges], or any part thereof, shall not be altered, amended, sus- 
pended or annulled, except on motion made in the Grand Lodge, 
at a regular session, in writing ; and such motion shall not be 
finally acted upon on the day of its presentation. 

Sub. Const., A7^t. xii, Sec. 2. 

91. Amendments to the By-Laws of the Grand Lodge 
are thus provided for: These By-Laws shall not be amended 
unless the section proposed to be amended shall be submitted to 
the Grand Lodge in writing as it would read if amended as pro- 
posed. The proposed amendment shall be read twice at length, 
and on the second reading may be put upon its passage ; when , 
if it shall receive a number of votes equal to a majority of all the 
Representatives elected to the Grand Lodge, it shall be considered 
adopted. A proposition to repeal a section or other part of the 
By-Laws shall be made in writing, and shall set forth in full the 
section or other part proposed to be repealed, which proposition 
shall be read twice at length ; and on its second reading may be 
put upon its passage. If it shall receive a number of votes equal 
to a majority of all the Representatives elected to the Grand 
Lodge, it shall be considered adopted. G.L. By-Laws, Art. Hi. 

92. Sec. 4. All questions in the Grand Lodge shall be 
decided by a majority of the members present and voting, except- 
ing upon a call of Lodges, when Representatives only shall vote, 
and each shall cast the number of votes to which his Lodge may 
be entitled. A call of Lodges may be required by any ten 
Representatives, and whenever the vote is taken this way, the 
yeas and nays shall be recorded. 

Sec. 5. Each Lodge shall be entitled, upon a call of Lodges, 
to one vote for every ten members in good standing at the close 
of the last preceding semi-annual term : Provided, that any 
Lodge with less than ten members shall have one vote. 

///. Const., Art. vii. Sees. 4,^. 

93. When the vote by Lodges is taken, the Grand Secre- 
tary calls the roll of Lodges, beginning with the lowest number. 
The Representative, if present, casts the vote for the Lodge. 
The last report made by a Lodge to a Grand Lodge determines 
the number of votes to which it is entitled. 



ILLINOIS ODD-FELLOWS' CODE. 25 

94. No question of law or usage will be received and an- 
swered by the Grand Lodge, unless the same shall come from a 
Subordinate Lodge under the seal of the Lodge, and properly 
attested. 

95. The Rules of Order of the Grand Lodge and the 
general parliamentaiy law as set forth in Robert's Rules of Or- 
der, govern it in the transaction of its business. These rules are 
as follows : 

Article L Order of Business, i. The presiding officer 
taking the chair calls the Lodge to order, and at the sound of the 
gavel there shall be general silence. 

2. The brethren being clothed in proper regalia, and officers 
and members being at their respective stations, the presence of a 
quorum is ascertained, when the Grand Master calls up the 
Lodge, and follows this order of business : 

First. — Prayer by the Grand Chaplain. 

Second. — Proclamation by the Grand Marshal of the opening 
of the Grand Lodge. 

Third. — Minutes read and approved. 

Fourth. — Report of Committee on Credentials. 

Fifth. — New members admitted and instructed. 

Sixth. ^ — Petitions read and referred. 

Seventh. — Communications read. 

Eighth. — Financial accounts read and referred. 

Ninth. — Appeals read and referred. 

Tenth. — Reports of Standing Committees in the following 
order : 

I. Committee on Returns. 2. Committee on the State of the 
Order. 3. Committee on Legislation. 4. Committee on the 
Judiciary. 5. Committee on Appeals. 6. Committee on Fi- 
nance. 7. Committee on Rebekah Degree. 8. Committee on 
Printing. 9. Committee on Railroads. 10. Committee on 
Mileage and Per Diem. 

Eleventh. — Reports of Special Committees, by seniority. 

Twelfth. — Unfinished Business by priority. 

Thirteenth. — New Business. 

96. 3. The reports of the Committee on Credentials are privi- 
leged to take priority to all other business, until disposed of; but 
the reports of all other committees, after having been submitted, 
shall take their place in order among the unfinished business. 



26 ILLINOIS ODD-FELLOWS' CODE, 

4. The Order of business, as here arranged, may at any time, 
for an occasion, be changed or dispensed with, by a two-thirds 
vote of the Lodge. 

97. Article II. — Decoru?n. i. During the continuance of 
the meeting, the most decorous silence must be observed. 

2. No member shall interrupt the business of the Grand 
Lodge, nor refuse to obey the chair. 

3. Each officer and member shall be designated in debate, or 
otherwise, by his office or title in the Order. 

4. No member shall be permitted to vote or speak unless 
clothed in proper regalia. 

98. Article III. — Of the Chair. The Grand Master, while 
presiding, shall state every question coming before the Grand 
Lodge, and immediately before putting it to vote shall ask : '' Is 
the Grand Lodge ready for the question ? " Should no member 
rise to speak, the Grand Master shall rise to take the vote ; and 
after he has risen no member shall be permitted to speak upon 
the question. The Grand Master shall pronounce the votes and 
decisions of the Grand Lodge on all subjects. His decisions on 
questions of order shall be without debate, unless, entertain- 
ing doubts on the point, he invite it; and he shall have the 
privilege of speaking only on such questions from the chair. 
When his decision has been appealed from, the question shall 
be put thus : '' Will the Grand Lodge stand by the chair in its 
decision ? " 

99. Article IV. — Of Debate, i. Every member, when he 
speaks or offers a motion, shall be standing, and shall respect- 
fully address the chair. While speaking, he shall confine him- 
self to the question under debate, avoiding all personality and 
inde(;orous language. 

2. Should two or more members rise to speak at the same 
time, the chair shall decide which shall be entitled to the floor. 

3. No member shall disturb another in his speech, unless to 
call him to order for words spoken. 

4. If a member, while speaking, shall be called ta order, at 
the request of the chair, he shall cease speaking and take his 
seat until the question of order is determined, when, if permitted, 
he may again proceed. 

5. No member shall speak more than once on the same ques- 
tion until all the members wishing to speak shall have had an 



ILLINOIS ODD-FELLOWS' CODE. 27 

opportunity to do -so, nor more than twice without permission 
from the Chair; but no member shall have the privilege of speak- 
ing more than once on a question of order after appeal from the 
decision of the Chair. 

lOO. Article V. — Of Questions and Votes, i. When any 
communication, petition or memorial is presented, before it is 
read, or any vote taken on it, a brief statement of its contents 
shall be made by the introducer or the Chair; and after it has 
been read, a brief notice of the purport shall be entered on the 
Journal. 

2. A motion shall not be subject to action until stated by the 
Chair; and at the desire of any member it shall be reduced to 
writing. 

3. When a blank is to be filled, the question shall be taken 
first upon the highest sum or number, and the longest or latest 
time proposed. 

4. Any member may call for a division of a question when 
the sense will admit of it. 

5. When a question is before the Grand Lodge, no motion 
shall be received, unless (i) to fix the time to which to adjourn; 
(2) to adjourn; (3) for the orders of the day; (4) to lay on the 
table; (5) for the previous question; (6) to postpone to^ a cer- 
tain time; (7) to commit; (8) to amend; (9) to postpone in- 
definitely; which motions shall have precedence in the order 
herein arranged, and the first five shall be decided without 
debate. 

6. After any question, except one of indefinite postponement, 
has been decided, any two members who voted in the majority 
may, at the same or next succeeding meeting, move for a recon- 
sideration thereof. 

7. The previous question can be called for by two members, 
if seconded by a majority, and shall be put in this form : '•''Shall 
the main question be now put ?^'' If carried, the question shall 
first be taken upon pending amendments, and then upon the 
main question. 

loi. Article VI. — Of Cominittees'' Reports, i. Every re- 
port of a committee shall be addressed to the Grand Lodge by 
its appropriate style and title (but the committee may omit the 
words " of the Independent Order of Odd-Fellows "), and shall 
be signed by the committee. 

2. A report of the minority of a committee shall not be re- 



28 ILLINOIS ODD-FELLOWS' CODE. 

ceived or entertained until after that of the majority shall have 
been presented and accepted. 

3. No report of a committee shall be considered at the same 
meeting of the session at which it may have been presented, 
unless by general consent, or upon vote taken, two-thirds of the 
members voting agree to consider the report at the time of its 
presentation. 

102. Article VII. — Amendments, etc., to Rules, i. These 
rules may be amended, altered, or rescinded, by a vote of two- 
thirds of the members voting. 

2. In the absence of any special rule of this Grand Body, 
Robert's Rules of Order shall govern as to all questions of 
parliamentary practice. 



CHAPTER IV. 

Grand Officers, especially of Illinois: their Powers, Duties 
and Privileges. 

103. The officers of the Grand Lodge shall be as fol- 
lows, viz : Grand Master ; Deputy Grand Master ; Grand War- 
den ; Grand Secretary ; Grand Treasurer ; and two Grand Rep- 
resentatives to the Grand Lodge of the United States ; all of 
whom shall be elected by ballot. Also, Grand Chaplain; 
Grand Marshal ; Grand Conductor ; Grand Guardian, and Grand 
Herald ; all of whom shall be appointed. 

///. Const., Art. iv, Sec. I. 

104. All elective Grand Officers shall be chosen separately 
by a majority of the valid votes cast. When there are but two 
candidates for the same office, in the event of a tie for two suc- 
cessive ballotings, the election shall be decided by lot. When 
there are more than two candidates in nomination, and neither 
receives a majority of votes at a balloting, the one receiving the 
fewest number of votes shall, after the result of the balloting 
has been announced, be, by the Chair, declared dropped from 
nomination^ and the balloting shall proceed. 

///. Const., Art. iv. Sec. 20. 



ILLINOIS ODD-FELLOWS' CODE. 29 

105. Sec. 18. Candidates for office may be nominated at 
any time previous to the election. 

Sec. 19. No vote shall be valid or counted unless it be cast 
for a candidate regularly in nomination. 

///. Const., Art. iv, Sees. 18, 19. 

106. A Grand Body may not put further limitations upon 
the eligibility of its members to office: thus, it may not enact 
that an officer shall not be reelected until he shall have been 
out of office for one term or more ; or that he shall not be reelected 
for some period of time ; or that a member shall not be eligible 
to office until one year after admission to the Grand Body; or 
that a Deputy of the Grand Master shall not be eligible to office, 
in his subordinate. Sov. 7432, 8369. 

107. After the election, the Grand Officers may be, at any 
time before adjournment, installed into their respective offices. 
The Grand Master, or any Past Grand Master [or senior mem- 
ber present] shall install the Grand Master-elect, who may install 
the other Grand Officers-elect. All Grand Officers shall be in- 
stalled to serve until after the election and installation of their 
successors. ///. Const., A^^t. iv, See. 21. 

The words in brackets, ''or senior member present," are illegal and void : 
see the next section. 

108. As the obligations of an office can be administered 
only by those who have already taken them, only the Grand Master 
or a Past Grand Master can install ; it may not be done by the 
senior member present. Sov. 1085. 

log. The holding of office in a Grand Lodge does not 
deprive a member of his right to vote in his subordinate ; nor 
does it confer upon him any privilege of voting in the Grand 
Lodge beyond what he has by virtue of being a Past Grand, and 
what may be conferred by the constitution and by-laws of his 
Grand Lodge. The same is true of the rank of Past Grand 
Master and of the office of Grand Representative. Grand Officers 
are not entitled ex-officio to vote (except as all other Past Grands 
have the right) ; but local legislation can give the right. 

Sov. 1503, 2265, 2467. 

no. By voluntarily withdrawing from the duties of an 
office an officer forfeits the honors thereof, and the successor 
who fills the unexpired term becomes entitled thereto. 

Sov. 1245. 



30 ILLINOIS ODD-FELLOWS' CODE. 

111. Any Grand Officer may be removed from his office 
for inattention to the duties of his office, or for conduct unbecom- 
ing an Odd-Fellow. An officer charged as herein provided shall 
be entitled to a fair trial, and the votes of two -thirds of the mem- 
bers present and voting shall be necessary to remove him from 
his office. An officer on trial shall not officiate in the Grand 
Lodge during his trial. ///. Const., Art. iv, Sec. 22. 

This last clause is illegal, so far as it contravenes the next section, which 
is the law prescribed by the S.G.L. to govern bodies subordinate to itself. 
That body bases its enactment on the principle that a member must be 
treated as innocent until he is shown to be guilty. Its own constitution, 
however, Art. xi, Sec! 2, suspends an officer vmder charges from the func- 
tions of his office. 

112. A Grand Officer under charges may not be deprived 
of his official station and duty, except so far as these have relation 
to the charges. During his trial he may not preside; nor may 
he appoint any committee or part of committee to examine or 
try the case, or do any official act that may affect the trial or its 
result. Sov. 5194, 8369-70. 

No Grand Officer has ever been put on trial or under charges in Illinois ; 
and cases of this sort and decisions thereon by the S.G.L. are few. The 
following case came up in 1876 {Sov. 6693-4) : A member of a Grand Lodge, 
Brother P., arose to a ''question of privilege," and began thereunder to 
read charges against the Grand Master in the chair; that officer decided 
that a presentation of charges was not a question of privilege, and stopped 
the reading. The G.L. and the S.G.L. approved this; his decision was 
valid, as he was not yet under charges. Brother P., after the new Grand 
Master was installed, again presented his charges against Brother S., as 
Grand Master, which were ruled out, as Brother S. was no longer Grand 
Master. He then presented them against Brother S. as Past Grand Master, 
for acts done as Grand Master. The charges were sent first to a committee 
of five, and afterward to the Grand Lodge in Committee of the Whole. As 
the Constitution and By-Laws of that Grand Lodge had no law on trials 
except that the Grand Officer should have a fair trial, the sending to Com- 
mittee of the Whole was approved by the S.G.L. 

113. If a Grand Officer is suspended by his subordinate 
for conduct unbecoming, his office is vacated ; he is not restored 
by the termination of his suspension, unless the local law so 
provide; and the vacancy is to be filled according to the con- 
stitution. Sov. 7909. 

114. Vacancies in any of the Grand Offices, occurring 
during the recess, shall be filled by the Grand Master ad interim., 
and at the first Annual Session of the Grand Lodge thereafter 
the vacancies shall be regularly filled. 

///. Const., Art. iv, Sec. 23. 



ILLINOIS ODD-FELLOWS' CODE. 31 

115. The Grand Master shall preside at all meetings of 
the Grand Lodge, and preserve order and enforce the rules. He 
shall appoint all Grand Officers pro tempore, and all the Grand 
Officers who are not elective. He shall name the members of 
all committees, unless it is otherwise ordered by the Grand 
Lodge. He shall give the casting vote whenever the Grand Lodge 
is equally divided [except in election of officers as appears in 
section 104]. He may call the Special Sessions of the Grand 
Lodge whenever, in his judgment, the good of the Order requires 
him so to do, and he shall call a Special Session whenever 
requested so to do in writing by the Representatives of fifty 
Lodges. He shall order the payment by the Grand Treasurer of 
all moneys voted by the Grand Lodge. In person, or by deputy, 
he shall confer all Official Degrees, and he shall communicate 
the necessary passwords to be used in this jurisdiction. During 
the recess of the Grand Lodge he shall have a general superin- 
tendence of the interests of the Order in this State; shall hear 
and decide such appeals as may be made to him; decide all 
questions of law and usage upon which his opinion may be asked 
under seal of a Lodge or by a deputy of the Grand Master ; grant 
dispensations to open Lodges, and do such other acts as this 
Grand Lodge might do, excepting that he may not, by virtue of 
any powers conferred upon him by this section, exercise any of 
the legislative functions of this Grand Lodge. At each Annual 
Session the Grand Master shall report the dispensations to open 
Lodges granted by him, and such other acts as he may have 
done in accordance with the authority herein upon him conferred ; 
and when an appeal has been taken from any of his decisions, 
he shall report the decision with the appeal therefrom. All 
decisions made by the Grand Master shall be binding until re- 
versed, upon appeal, by this Grand Lodge. 

///. Const., Art. iv, Sec.. 2. 

A Grand Master has not power, by virtue of his office, to grant dispensa- 
tions for opening Lodges, but it is competent for his Grand Lodge to confer 
such power upon him. He has not, by virtue of his office, the power to 
authorize the removal of a subordinate from one town or city to another, but 
the extensive ministerial powers conferred by the Grand Lodge of Illinois 
upon its Grand Master are held to allow him to give dispensations for 
removal of subordinates. — See U. S. Digest of\Z^'],p. 46; Sov. 3181. 

116. The law-making power is not in the Grand Master. 
He cannot ordain or make laws or rules of procedure. He has 
only the powers conferred by law. He has the powers and 
duties prescribed in the Rituals, and performs the duties assigned 



82 ILLINOIS ODD-FELLOWS' CODE. 

to him by his Grand Lodge. He has supervisory power over 
the Order in his jurisdiction, which is entire during vacation; but 
his functions are ministerial and judicial, not legislative. During 
recess he is necessarily to some extent the substitute or represent- 
ative of the whole Grand Lodge ; but during the session he is 
simply a member jDresiding, and is for the time being responsible 
to the body which is the final judge. He must not refuse to 
allow an appeal from his own decision to the Grand Lodge. 

U. S. Digest of \%d;],pp. 46, 47 ; Sov. 81 1 1, 3415, 1108. 

117. A Grand Master has supervisory power over the Or- 
der, and must check the introduction of subjects foreign to the 
purposes of the Order. He is required to enforce the law of 
suppressing the publication of the work, cards and diplomas, as 
directed by the S.G.L, If he or his Grand Lodge grant permis- 
sion to a Lodge to apply for relief, he furnishes written authority 
according to the form in the Book of Forms. 

U. S. Digest of\%\'],pp. 46, 47. 

118. A Grand Master may visit the subordinates in his juris- 
diction at pleasure, and should install (or cause to be installed) 
their officers ; he may examiine their books and make extracts 
therefrom, or appoint another brother to make extracts ; and the 
executive officers of a Grand Lodge may require of a Lodge 
which works in a foreign language extracts of its proceedings 
translated into English. Sov. 919, 21 14. 

119. The Constitution of a Subordinate cannot be sus- 
pended by a Grand Master ; and any dispensation issued by him 
in conflict with such constitution is void. He cannot grant an 
appeal from the action of his Grand Lodge. Sov. 4624, 6619. 

120. As a general rule, in cases of dispute or appeal, a 
Lodge or an officer must accept the construction of law given by 
the Grand Master; but there are cases where the Grand Master 
must not interfere with the duties of officers acting under special 
laws for their government, and where no question is raised by 
appeal or submitted for his decision. Sov. 6567-8. 

In the peculiar case in which this rule was stated, a Deputy of the Grand 
Master had by law the keeping of sundry papers assigned to him alone till 
the meeting of the Grand Lodge ; the Grand Master ordered him to give 
them up ; he refused ; the Grand Master was held to have erred ; and it 
was decided that the Deputy could not be removed or punished, as he had 
obeyed the law. 



ILLINOIS ODD-FELLOWS' CODE. 33 

121. Communications from the Grand Master contain- 
ing decisions upon points of law are valid and authoritative, even 
if not attested by the Grand Lodge seal, which is in charge of 
the Grand Secretary only. 

122. The decisions of Grand Masters are valid until re- 
versed : if there is a tie vote in Grand Lodge on the question of 
approving a decision, it is not reversed and remains valid : a tie 
vote is simply no expression of opinion. Sov. 4363. 

123. A Grand Master has entire supervision of his subor- 
dinates during vacation, and the right and duty to interfere on 
all violations of law ; and in case of persistent disobedience, he 
has the right to suspend a subordinate from all rights and privi- 
leges had under its charter. Sov. 2403, 3415. 

124. The suspension of a Lodge by a Grand Master dur- 
ing recess is valid until the meeting of the Grand Lodge and its 
action on the case. The act of suspension of a Lodge takes 
effect from the time that it is proclaimed ; and it should be pro- 
claimed as soon as practicable. Sov. 3415, 1291. 

125. A Grand Master when visiting a subordinate in his 
official capacity is entitled to the honors of the Order; but a 
Grand Master may visit in his individual capacity as a member 
of the Order ; and upon such visits he should not expect to be 
received with the honors. It is only when he announces himself 
as Grand Master that the visit becomes official. A Grand Mas- 
ter visiting as such in his jurisdiction should wear the regalia and 
jewel of his office. Sov. 2562, 4716. 

126. The official relations of a Grand Master are with a 
Lodge itself in its capacity as a Lodge, and not with its officers ; 
he cannot summarily remove an officer of a subordinate, nor 
can he take the chair of a N.G. to prevent him from submitting 
an illegal motion. If the officer persists in illegal action, the 
Grand Master should inform the Lodge that it must require its 
officers to conform to law, or it will be dealt with itself for in- 
subordination. Nor has a Grand Master a right to claim the 
chair of a N.G. except when visiting for installation; nor can he 
call a meeting of a subordinate. 

Sov. 1839-40, 3512, 2403, 1085. 

127. The Grand Master and Grand Secretary are not re- 
quired to answer any letter, unless it be from a Deputy of a 
Lodge or under the seal of a Lodge. 

4 



34 ILLINOIS ODD-FELLOWS' CODE. 

128. A Grand Master should not, upon general principles, 
hold office in his subordinate or in a Degree Lodge. But, in the 
absence of any law of his Grand Lodge [and the Grand Lodge 
of Illinois has passed no law on the subject] he may hold such 
office as will not in any way interfere with his official business. 

Sov, 2858. 

129. The right of a Grand Master to exercise any author- 
ity conferred upon him is not affected by the pendency of a pro- 
position to repeal the law. Sov. 2748. 

130. The Deputy Grand Master shall support the Grand 
Master in the Grand Lodge. His powers shall be the same as 
those of the Grand Master, when, during the absence of that 
officer from this jurisdiction, or because of his inability to act, or 
in the event of his death or resignation, the duties of the Grand 
Master shall devolve upon the Deputy Grand Master. \Sec. 87.) 

///. Const., Art. iv, Sec. 3. 

131. The Grand Warden shall, under the Grand Master, 
have special charge of the door, and shall assist the Grand Mas- 
ter in conducting the business of the Grand Lodge. 

///. Const., Art. iv, Sec. 4. 

132. The Grand Secretary shall record the proceedings of 
the Grand Lodge, and send to the subordinates printed copies 
thereof; he shall keep the accounts between the Grand Lodge 
and its subordinates; shall receive all moneys coming to the 
Grand Lodge from its subordinates, and pay the same immedi- 
ately to the Grand Treasurer ; shall notify each of the subordi- 
nates of any Special Session that may be called, and shall procure 
all stationery for the use of the Grand Lodge and its officers. 

///. Const., Art. iv. Sec. 5. 

Practically, the Grand Secretary is the corresponding ofificer of the Grand 
Lodge, attending during recess to all business not belonging to the Grand 
Master, and issuing from his office the warrants, commissions, passwords, 
etc., signed by the Grand Master or authorized by him. He keeps and sells 
to the Lodges all supplies of cards, odes, books, etc. He receives such com- 
pensation and gives such bond as the Grand Lodge may require. The 
Grand Secretary is instructed, in presenting the annual report required by 
usage, to specify in detail the sources of revenue and the objects of expendi- 
tures. He is instructed to insure the property of the Grand Lodge ; to append 
an index to each annual Journal of the Grand Lodge ; to send no supplies 
unless they are paid for ; to furnish printed certificates to subordinates for 
their Representatives ; and to consider his fiscal year as ending on the 31st 
day of October. He is authorized to have the reports of the Grand Officers 
printed for distribution at the annual session of the Grand Lodge ; to return 



ILLINOIS ODD-FELLOWS' CODE. 6'0 

uncurrent funds sent him or sell them and charge the loss to the Lodge send- 
ing; and to give valid receipts for money received, without the Grand Seal. 
Other duties of the Grand Secretary are to be found under other titles and 
should be sought by the index. 

133. The Grand Treasurer shall receive all moneys paid 
to him by the Grand Secretary,. and receipt for the same. He 
shall keep books containing an account of all moneys received 
and paid by him, to whom paid and for what purpose; and he 
.shall have his accounts posted at every annual session, and sul)- 
mit them at that time to the examination of the Grand Lodge. 

///. Const., Art. iv, Sec. 6. 

134. The Grand Secretary and the Grand Treasurer shall 
each, before entering upon the duties of his office, give bond^ 
with two or more sufficient sureties, in such sum as the Grand 
Lodge may determine, to be executed and approved by the Grand 
Lodge, conditioned for the faithful discharge of his duties, and 
for the delivery of all moneys, papers, books, records and other 
property appertaining to his office, whole, safe and undefaced, to 
his successor in office. ///. Const., Art. iv, Sec. 14. 

135. The Grand Representatives shall attend the meet- , 
ings of the Sovereign Grand Lodge, and represent this Grand 
Lodge therein. ///. Const., Ai-t. iv. Sec. 12. 

136. Where the laws of a Grand Body provide that a 
Grand Representative is an elective Grand Officer thereof, he is 
to be recognized as such, and entitled to the honors of the Order 
when visiting a subordinate officially. Sov. 3738. 

137. It is the duty of a Grand Representative, on his 

return to his jurisdiction, to instruct his constituent Grand Body, 
or its Grand Officers, in the work of the Order. A Grand Mas- 
ter is charged with the duty of requiring of Lodges as well as of 
members, a strict compliance with the instructions received by 
him from the Grand Representative, and with the duty of dis- 
seminating the information given by the Grand Representative 
throughout the jurisdiction. Sov. 3821, 3842-3, 8533. 

138. The Grand Chaplain shall perform the duties peculiar 

to his office. [Sees. 98, 87.) ///. Const., Art. iv. Sec. 7. 

The Journals from 1851 to the present time show that the session is cus- 
tomarily closed with prayer by the Grand Chaplain. The Constitution of 
1847 gave this officer the title of " Right Reverend," which was maintained 
in the records till 1862, when correction was made by the S.G.L., which 
declared that such title was not recognized in the Order. 



36 ILLINOIS ODD-FELLOWS' CODE. 

139. The Grand Marshal shall assist the Deputy Grand 
Master in supporting the Grand Master in the Grand Lodge. 
He shall, when requested, attend the Grand Master in his official 
visits to the subordinates, shall make proclamation for the Grand 
Master when required so to do, and shall obey his commands. 

///. Const. ^ Art. iv, Sec. 8. 

140. The Grand Conductor shall examine and conduct 
new members into the Grand Lodge ; shall attend to the comfort 
and convenience of the Grand Lodge, and during its session shall 
execute the commands of the Grand Master. 

///. Const., Art. iv, Sec. 9. 

141. The Grand Guardian shall attend at the inner door of 
the Grand Lodge, and permit none to enter or depart without the 
consent of the Grand Warden. ///. Const., Art. iv, Sec. 10. 

142. The Grand Herald shall attend at the outer door of 
the Grand Lodge. He shall have charge of the personal prop- 
erty of the Grand Lodge, and keep the same in good order. 

///. Const., Aj't. iv, Sec. 11. 

The property here referred to has been understood to mean the regalia 
and other property taken to the Grand Lodge by the Grand Secretary ; but 
he is not the regular custodian of anything by present custom. 

143. Every member of this Grand Lodge shall be eligi- 
ble to any Grand office, excepting to that of Grand Representa- 
tive, to which he shall also be eligible if he have the Royal 
Purple Degree. ///. Const., Art. iv, Sec. 16. 

But see Sec. 40. 

144. Sec. 13. The Grand Officers, excepting the Grand 
Representatives, shall receive for their services such compensa- 
tion as the Grand Lodge may determine. 

Sec. 15. The Grand Officers shall, in addition to the duties 
herein specified, perform such other duties as may be imposed 
upon them by law. 

Sec. 17^ a member of the Grand Lodge shall not hold two 
offices at the same time. ///. Const., Art. iv. Sees. 13, 15, 17. 

145. The Grand Master is authorized and empowered to 
appoint, from time to time, in his discretion, as many members 
of the Grand Lodge, who shall be Grand Officers or Past Grand 
Elective Officers thereof, or otherwise duly qualified, as he may 
deem proper, to visit Subordinate Lodges in the jurisdiction and 



ILLINOIS ODD-FELLOWS' CODE. 37 

instruct them in the unwritten work, and also upon such other 
matters of law and usage as the Grand Master may direct. The 
expenses of such visitors shall be paid, in every instance, by the 
Lodge or Lodges visited by them ; and such official visitors shall 
have, during their visits, the power of a deputy of the Grand 
Master. But no Lodge shall be visited at its expense except 
upon its own invitation. 

146. When a Lodge Deputy Grand Master and an Offi- 
cial Instructor appointed by the Grand Master conflict in opinion 
as to the unwritten work of the Order, the instructions of the 
Grand Instructor take precedence. 

147. Grand Officers visiting subordinates address the 
Chairs as other members do : the " grand honors" or honors of 
the Order, which are used only in the Third Degree, are given 
immediately after their recognition by the officers of the Lodge. 
To elective and past Grand Officers visiting outside their own 
jurisdictions the honors are given after they have paid the usual 
address to the Chairs, and have been recognized, and have been 
introduced to the Noble Grand by name and rank. 

Sov. 4467, 4993. 

148. A Past Grand Master has a right to announce his 
title as such when visiting a Subordinate Lodge on ordinary 
occasions ; but he is not entitled to the honors of the Order, un- 
less he visits on official business, which fact he should announce. 
When a Grand Officer announces himself as such, it is to be pre- 
surned that he is on official business. Sov. 4993, aiid Ritual. 

Special instruction respecting honors, see in the Ritual. 

149. Elective Grand Officers (but not District Deputy 
Grand Sires, nor Lodge Deputies) may introduce visiting broth- 
ers, without subjecting them to the usual examination, into any 
subordinate of their own jurisdiction. (See Sec. 535.) An offi- 
cer of a Grand Lodge cannot introduce a visitor into an En- 
campment by virtue of his office ; nor can an officer of the 
Grand Encampment by virtue of his office introduce a visitor 
into a Lodge ; but this prohibition does not apply to Grand 
Representatives as to others. [Sec. 535.) The holder of an un- 
expired withdrawal card may be introduced under this privilege, 
or the holder of an expired visiting card ; but not the holder of 
a Dismissal Certificate. 

Sov. By-Lazv, Art. xiv ; Sov. 400, 2628, 3513, 2859, 8533. 



38 ILLINOIS ODD-FELLOWS' CODE, 

150. No Grand Officer shall extend the courtesy allowed 
by the preceding section to any brother unless reasonably satis- 
fied of his good standing in the Order. 

151. The Grand Lodge of Illinois shall furnish no regalia 
except for its officers ; all unofficial members must furnish or 
bring regalia for their own use. 



CHAPTER V. 
Standing Committees of the Grand Lodge. 

152. The Grand Master shall, at each Annual Ses- 
sion, immediately aft:r the installation of the Grand Officers, 
appoint the following standing committees to serve for one year, 
viz : (i) on Credentials, three members ; (2) on Returns, three 
members ; (3) on the State of the Order, three members ; (4) on 
Legislation, five memlers; (5) on the Judiciary, five members ; 
(6) on Appeals, five m2mbers ; (7) on Finance, three members ; 
(8) on Rebekah Degree, three members ; (9) on Printing, three 
members; (10) on Railroads, three members; and (11) on Mile- 
age and Per Diem, seven members. In the "Order of Busi- 
ness," reports of these committees shall be called and have pri- 
ority in the order in which they are herein named. 

///. Const. ^ Art. vi, Sec. I. 

153. The Constitution assigns to the Grand Master the 
appointment of committees at his discretion, which cannot be 
interfered with. Hence resolutions requiring the Grand Master 
to appoint them from a certain class of members are illegal. 
Members from standing committees are not as such entitled to 
mileage and per diem ; and if they are absent from the session, 
the vacancies will be filled by new appointments. 

154. Sec. 2. The Committee on Credentials shall report, 

without delay, on the credentials of Representatives and Past 
Grands. [Concerning the precedence of reports of this com- 
mittee, see Rule of Order, Art. I, 2, 3, Sees. 94, 95, above.] 



ILLINOIS ODD-FELLOWS' CODE. 39 

Sec. 3. The Committee on Returns shall report upon all re- 
turns from Subordinate and Degree Lodges. 

///. Const., Art. vi. Sees. 2, 3. 

155. The Committee on the State of the Order shall 
report upon the reports of the M.W. Grand Master and R.W. 
Grand Secretary, in so far as such reports relate to the state of 
the Order. The committee shall also report upon the condition 
and progress of the Order in this jurisdiction, upon applications 
for charters, and upon such other matters as may be referred to 
it. ///. Const., Art. vi, Sec. 4. 

156. The Committee on Legislation shall report upon all 
resolutions referred to it proposing the enactment, amendment 
or repeal of any law, and upon such other matters "as may be 
referred to it. ///. Const., Art. vi, Sec. 5. 

157. The Committee on the Judiciary shall report upon 
all appeals wherein mere questions of law are raised, and upon 
all questions of law and usage referred to it. It shall examine 
the by-laws of subordinates, and amend them to conform to the 
laws of this jurisdiction. ///. Const., Art. vi. Sec. 6. 

158. The Committee on Appeals shall report upon all re- 
peals excepting those wherein mere questions of law are raised. 

///. Const., Art. vi. Sec. 7. 

159. The Committee on Finance shall report upon all 
accounts and claims against the Grand Lodge, previous to such 
accounts and claims being allowed. It shall audit annually the 
accounts of the Grand Secretary and the Grand Treasurer, 
and the accounts of all officers and committees intrusted with 
the receipt and disbursement of funds of the Grand Lodge. 
It shall, from time to time, suggest such measures of finance 
as it may deem expedient. ///. Const., Art. vi, Sec. 8. 

160. The Committee on Rebekah Degree shall report 
upon all matters relating to the Rebekah Degree and Rebekah 
Degree Lodges referred to it. ///. Const., Art. vi, Sec. 9. 

161. The Committee on Printing shall superintend all 
prmting that may be ordered, and shall have authority to con- 
tract for the same. ///. Const., Art. vi. Sec. 10. 

The Committee on Printing shall have charge of all printing 
for the Grand Lodge, except circulars or other small jobs needed 



40 ILLINOIS ODD-FELLOWS' CODE. 

immediately; but the Journal, officers' reports, regular blanks, 
etc., shall be in charge of this committee. The Committee on 
Printing shall advertise for bids for the printing of the Journal, 
sixty days before the session, and award the work. They shall 
have the Journal ready for delivery to the Lodges within forty- 
five days after the adjournment of the Grand Lodge. 

The Grand Master and Grand Representatives shall furnish 
copy of their reports to the Printing Committee one week before 
the session, and the committee shall have them printed for the 
session. The Grand Secretary shall furnish the tabular matter 
in fifteen days, and the rest of the copy of the Journal of Pro- 
ceedings within thirty days after the close of each annual session 
of the Grand Lodge. 

162. The Committee on Railroads shall, if possible, pro- 
cure reduced rates of fare over the several railroads 'of the state 
for members of the Grand Lodge attending the session thereof ; 
and shall report to the Grand Secretary at least three weeks be- 
fore any session the names of railroad companies giving reduc- 
tions of fare, and all the details of the arrangements made there- 
with. ///. Const., Art. vi, Sec. 1 1. 

163. The Committee on Mileage and Per Diem shall 
report the number of miles necessarily traveled, by the shortest 
traveled route, by each Grand Officer and Representative, the 
number of days' attendance of the same, and the amount due to 
each. The committee shall make its estimates by allowing 
eight cents mileage one way, and three dollars per diem. 

///. Const., Art. vi, Sec. 12. 

164. All Committees of the Grand Lodge are instructed 
to give reference to established law on all questions by them 
decided. 

165. The Committees on the State of the Order, on the 

Judiciary, and on Appeals, and also the Chairman of the Com- 
mittee on Mileage and Per Diem, shall meet three days before 
the meeting of the Grand Lodge ; and the members of said 
Committees shall be entitled to per diem for each day's extra 
attendance under this law. The other Standing Committees 
shall meet one day before the meeting of the Grand Lodge, to 
make out reports ; and Representatives on such committees are 
entitled to one day's per diem. 



CHAPTER VI. 
Charters and Institutions. 

i66. A Grand Lodge has power to grant or to refuse char- 
ters to Subordinate Lodges, and to open such Lodges according 
to the prescribed form. U. S. Digest 0/184.7, 45 ; Sov. 1743. 

167. Grand Lodges issue Charters to Subordinate Lodges 
and to Degree Lodges only ; no charter may be given to a Sub- 
ordinate or Division Grand Lodge. Sov. 7812. 

168. Charters may be granted as follows, viz : (i) On the 

written application of five or more brothers, in good standing, to 
open a Lodge where there is no Lodge, or where there is no Lodge 
working in the language of the proposed Lodge; (2) on the 
written application of ten or more brothers, in good standing, 
[five of whom must be of the Scarlet Degree], to open a Lodge 
where not more than nine Lodges are working in the language 
of the proposed Lodge; (3) on the written application of twenty 
or more brothers, in good standing [ten of whom must be of the 
Scarlet Degree], to open a Lodge where ten or more Lodges are 
working in the language of the proposed Lodge : provided, the 
application shall be approved by at least one-third of the Lodges 
working in the language of the proposed Lodge at such place. 
All applications for charters must be accompanied by the With- 
drawal Cards or Dismissal Certificates of the applicants and the 
charter fee, to- wit, thirty dollars. ///. Const., Art. viii. Sec. I. 

The words in brackets should be stricken out, since, by change of the 
laws of the S.G.L., all Lodges work in the Third Degree; all applicants for 
a charter must be of the Working or Business Degree. 

i6g. Grand Lodges may provide by law for conferring all 
the Degrees of a Subordinate Lodge upon five or more Initiatory 
Odd-Fellows w^ho desire to form a Lodge, in order to enable 
them, or any five of them, to petition for a Subordinate Lodge in 
a locality which is ten miles or more from any existing subordi- 
nate in operation. [Illinois has not enacted any law hereunder.] 

Sov. 8682. 



42 ILLINOIS ODD-FELLOWS' CODE. 

170. On Deposit with application for a charter, there 
may be received a Withdrawal Card, unexpired or expired, with- 
out limit as to its age, from any person who could legally be 
initiated as a member of a Lodge, but not if held by any one not 
legally capable of membership ; also, dismissal certificates may 
be received. Sov. 3861, 4993, 5491-2, 7173. 

171. Residents in one county may be petitioners for a 
charter for a Lodge in another in the same state. Sov. 1639. 

172. The name of any person while living may not be 
used as the chartered name or title of any Subordinate Lodge. 

^ov. 5153-4. 

173. All petitions for new Lodges, together with the 
charter fee for the same, shall be transmitted directly to the 
Grand Secretary (the petition to be accompanied by the cards 
of the petitioners), who shall, upon the order of the Grand 
Master, transmit to the designated instituting officer a warrant 
for the new Lodge, with all necessary books and papers, blanks 
and instructions. 

174. The dispensation for the formation of a new Lodge 
authorizes and empowers all named therein to constitute the 
Lodge. But if any of those named are absent from the institu- 
tion, its membership is composed only of those who, pursuant to 
that authority, appear and assume before the instituting officer 
the obligations required by the laws. The absentees can gain 
admittance only by withdrawing their cards from the hands of 
the Grand Officers, and applying in the usual mode for admis- 
sion to membership by card. A Grand Master should not [and, 
of course, a Deputy of the Grand Master may not] waive the 
absence of a withdrawal card, and admit a brother as a charter 
member without one. Sov. 2266, 7802. 

175. A Grand Body cannot furnish a subordinate with two 
charters or a duplicate, except when the original one has been 
mutilated or destroyed. Such duplicate should not vary from 
the original ; and it should be signed by the officers of the body 
granting it, with an endorsement stating that it is issued in place 
of one given at such other time, and which had been injured or 
destroyed. Sov. 2699. 

176. If a charter is lost or destroyed by fire or other casu- 
alty, the Grand Master shall cause a duplicate charter to issue 



ILLINOIS ODD-FELLOWS' CODE. 43 

at once, and shall report such issue to the next session of the 
Grand Lodge. 

177. The charter of a Lodge being a confirmation of mat- 
ters of record contained in the warrant for the original institution, 
it is not in the power of a Grand or Subordinate Lodge to change 
or vary the record of facts contained in the warrant, when the 
charter is issued; even if one of the petitioners for the Lodge has 
been expelled from the Order, his name cannot be omitted or 
stricken out. Sov. 81 13. 

In Illinois, prior to 1856, it was sometimes allowed to alter a charter by 
erasure of one name and insertion of another ; but at that session petitions 
for such change were denied ; and the declared policy of the Grand Lodge 
ever since is to refuse to allow an}^- change in a charter, considering it im- 
politic and illegal, as a Grand Body cannot change or vary the phraseology 
of an original charter. 

178. Every Lodge opened in this jurisdiction shall be in- 
stituted by the Grand Master or a Past Grand especially deputed 
to do the duty, who shall give to the Lodge, with the charter or 
warrant, the necessary instructions and charges. The expenses 
of the instituting officer shall be paid by the Lodge instituted. 

///. Const. ^ Art. viii, Sec. 2. 

179. A special deputy appointed to institute a Lodge or 
Encampment has fulfilled his duty when such Lodge or Encamp- 
ment is instituted and he has reported the institution. [But 
see Sec. 2>Z?>-^ ^^^- 4240-41. 

180. Every Lodge continues to exist so long as it consists of 
five members in good standing, unless its warrant be reclaimed 
by special act ; and such warrant cannot be restored, nor can the 
name and number of any Lodge be assigned, to any persons 
except to a sufficient number of those who were members of said 
Lodge before the extinction of its warrant. [Sees. 1058-9). 
And this law is imperative upon all Grand Lodges in regard to 
their subordinates. The charter of a subordinate cannot be sur- 
rendered by a majority of its members, if a constitutional quorum 
be willing to work under it. . Sov. 93, 1 15-16, 410. 

181. Each jurisdiction is authorized to prepare a suitable 
form of charter for Rebekah-Degree Lodges. Sov. 4609. 



CHAPTER VII. 

General Laws Affecting Subordinate Lodges, not otherwise 
Classed. 

182. Subordinates are restricted to the powers given by 
their charters, and have no legislative power except to make 
by-laws. But if the by-law^s or constitution of a subordinate are 
found in conflict with the laws of its state Grand Body or of the 
Sovereign Grand Lodge, the laws of the higher body prevail. 

Sov. 1235-6, 3415. 

183. If a subordinate disregards its own constitution or 
the laws of its state Grand Body, yet acts according to the laws 
of the S.G.L., the state Grand Body has no right to punish it ; 
and on proper appeal to the S.G.L. it will be protected. But in 
all cases any violation of the laws of its Grand Body is at the 
risk of the subordinate. Sov. 3109. 

184. It is the duty of a subordinate to obey the decis- 
ions of its Grand Lodge, which are final and conclusive until 
reversed by the Sovereign Grand Lodge, upon proper appeal 
thereto. Pending such appeal, the Subordinate Lodge is not en- 
titled to any privileges other than those accorded to it by its 
Grand Lodge, which may enforce its decision by demanding the 
charter and effects of the subordinate for non-compliance with 
the decision appealed from. Sov. 3738. 

185. " The Constitution of Subordinate Lodges " in 

the jurisdiction of Illinois is given by the Grand Lodge, and 
can be altered by that body only. Sub. Const., Art. xii, Sec. 2. 

186. Subordinate Lodges have no right to assemble in 
convention and legislate relative to the internal affairs of Grand 
Bodies, nor can they assemble for any purpose of legislation or 
to affect the course of legislation, without the consent of their 
Grand Bodies. [Sec. 60.) Sov. 1786, 2215. 

187. Advice or counsel should not be asked by a Subordi- 
nate Lodge from any other source than its own Grand Lodge. 

a S, Digest of \%A,^,p,\']. 



ILLINOIS ODD-FELLOWS' CODE. 45 

1 88. No circular may be issued or distributed by any 
Lodge of this jurisdiction without the written consent of the 
Grand Master. 

189. No Lodge room of any Subordinate Lodge under 
the jurisdiction of this Grand Lodge shall be established, and no 
meetings of any Lodge shall be holden, in a tavern or hotel, 
under penalty of forfeiture of their charter, without express per- 
mission by this Grand Lodge or the Grand Master. 

G. L. By-Laws, Art. ii, Sec. 10. 

190. The location of a Lodge is designated in its charter, 
and cannot be changed except by authority of the Grand Lodge 
[Sees., 189, 191) ; but, unless the charter also designates the 
place of meeting, the Lodge may occupy any place sufficiently 
private and secure from intrusion, and the Grand Lodge cannot 
interfere. But movable Lodges or Lodges in the army are not 
permitted. U. S. Digest of 1847, 4^; Sov. 782, 812, 659, 2137. 

191. If the meetings of a Lodge are held in a place 
which is, for any reason, unsuitable, it shall be the duty of the 
Grand Master, upon knowledge of the facts, to require the 
Lodge to remove to a suitable room. 

192. No meeting of a Lodge may be held in any 'other 
place than the regular Lodge room, except for a public installa- 
tion, and then only by a vote of the Lodge. 

193. Should any Subordinate Lodge fail to hold its 
meetings for six months, or to make its returns as required by 
the constitution for one year, it shall be deemed an extinct 
Lodge, and its charter forfeited. It shall be the duty of subor- 
dinates to make out their returns previous to installation. 

G. L. By-Laws, Art. ii, Sec. i. 
This Lodge shall forfeit its charter if it fails to comply with 
the requisitions and laws of the Grand Lodge ; and in such case 
it shall be the duty of the last installed officers to comply with 
the provisions of the first and second sections of Art. II of 
the By-Laws of the Grand Lodge. Sub. Const., Art. xi. Sec. 3. 

194. A Lodge becomes defunct or extinct when its mem- 
bership is less than five. [Sec. 180.) 

195. In all cases where a Lodge has been suspended or 
expelled, or its charter has been forfeited, the charter, funds, 



46 ILLINOIS ODD-FELLOWS' CODE. 

books properties and effects of all kinds revert to its Grand 
Lodge. The effects of a Lodge embrace its jewels, emblems, 
furniture, etc., as well as its working and other books ; and the 
charter, books and effects can be restored only to a sufficient 
number of its former members. 

Sov. 351, 648, 749, 1283-4, and Ritjial. 
For the legally-sufficient number and the conditions, see Sees. 1056-7-8-9. 

196. In all cases where a Lodge shall have been sus- 
pended or expelled, or its charter shall have been forfeited, the 
charter, funds, books, properties and effects of all kinds shall 
revert to the Grand Lodge, and it shall be the duty of the last 
installed officers of such Lodge to deliver immediately to the 
Grand Master, or the brother deputed by him to receive them, 
such funds and other effects as the Lodge may have claim to. 

G. L. By-Laws, Art. ii, Sec. 2. 

197. No Lodge shall be suspended, expelled, or made 
liable to any disability, until found guilty of willful violation of 
the laws of the Sovereign Grand Lodge, or of this Grand Lodge, 
upon clue trial, with opportunity of defense, upon charges filed 
with the Grand Secretary by some Past Grand ; and suspension 
or expulsion shall require a majority of two-thirds. But the pro- 
visions of this law shall not apply to cases in which a Lodge 
has forfeited its charter by failing to meet for six months or to 
report for one year, nor to cases in which a Lodge has been 
guilty of contempt, by disregard of a mandate of the Grand 
Lodge or disobedience thereto. 

Under the Grand Lodge of Illinois the following cases have occurred of 
suspension or trial of subordinates, or suspension ordered conditionally : 

No. 6, 1854, 73-4; 1857, 120-22; III, 8, 9, 23; 88: decided by S.G.L 
in favor of Lodge. No. 36, III, 294-6; 298-307; 324: suspended and re- 
stored. No. 53, I, 245, 258, 281 : tried by committee. No. 79, 1854, 26, 
60: committee of one sent ; no report; Lodge retained standing. No. 112, 
III, 181 ; 257-8 ; 321 : tried by commission ; retained standing. No. 143, V, 
26, 83, 93: suspended. No. 186, III, 579: com.mittee of one; retained 
standing. No. 334, IV, 388-9; 391-7; 469-71; V, t6 : suspended; then 
tried by commission, one of whom was of committee that preferred charges; 
restored to standing. No. 440, V, 37, 92 : suspended. Nos. 477 and 488 : 
suspended by Grand Master for disobedience to Grand Lodge ; VI, 710 : 
both reinstated, VI, 711, 923. In several cases the Grand Lodge has cen- 
sured subordinates. 

198. Every Subordinate Lodge shall pay to the Grand 
Lodge such capitation tax as may from year to year, or by the 
By-Laws of this Grand Lodge, be determined upon. 

///. Const., Art. viii, Sec. 5. 



ILLINOIS ODD-FLLLOWS' CODE. 47 

igp. The Capitation Tax must be paid for all members in 
good standing : all are counted as in good standing for this pur- 
pose who, having once been members, have not withdrawn or 
died, norl)een expelled, and who are not at the time of making 
the report dropped, even though so far in arrears as to lose right 
to benefits ; or if under charges, but not of penalty of suspension. 

Sec. 1039. 

200. The Grand Master is empowered to allow, by dis- 
pensation, two adjacent Lodges to consolidate and unite their 
membership and property, dropping the name and number of 
one of the Lodges and surrendering the corresponding charter : 
provided, the Grand Master shall first receive petitions for such 
consolidation, signed by the members of such Lodges, and duly 
attested" by the seals of the Lodges; and if the Lodges consoli- 
dating do not decide which name and number shall be dropped, 
the Grand Master shall decide thereon. 

This law was passed in 1861, and was originally designed to meet exigen- 
cies arising from the state of things during the war of the secession, but was 
not limited to that time. In 1866 the Grand Master decided that two Lodges 
having united under the consolidation law of 1861, one of them cannot after- 
ward, even by mutual consent, receive back its property, number, charter 
and membership, and be thus reconstituted as before. But this judgment was 
reversed five years later, when in 1871 the Grand Lodge approved the action 
of the Grand Master in issuing a dispensation permitting the separation 
and reconstitution of a Lodge that had been consolidated, such permission 
being temporary, and awaiting the approval of the Grand Lodge ; hence all 
cases under this precedent must be decided by the discretion of the Orand 
Master and of the Grand Lodge, severally. 

201. Subordinate Lodges shall punish their members 
who may be guilty of immoral conduct ; and after charges have 
been preferred for immoral conduct, and sustained, they shall 
award such punishment as is provided therefor in their Constitu- 
tion and By-Laws, and as the rules and usages of the Order 
demand ; in default of which the subordinate neglecting or 
refusing to award punishment shall be liable to forfeit its charter. 

G.L. By-Laws, Art. ii, Sec. 5. 

202. A Lodge is responsible for the mistakes of its officers; 
and an individual brother should not be allowed to suffer there- 
for. But if the correction of an error of its ofiicers will work a 
wrong, a Lodge may not take advantage of its own mistakes. 
{Sec. 447). And if the act of the officers be in its nature illegal 
(as the issue of a card without vote of the Lodge), the Lodge 
cannot legalize it ; it remains void . 



48 ILLINOIS ODD-FELLOWS' CODE. 

203. Every Subordinate Lodge shall have a suitable seal 
(a proof-impression of which shall be deposited with the (irand 
Secretary) ; and all its official communications shall be sealed 
therewith. G.L. By-Laws, Art^ii, Sec. 6. 

204. The seal of a Lodge, to be authentic, must be printed 
or impressed upon the paper or instrument it authenticates, and 
not affixed thereto; a printed seal pasted on is nof a legal seal. 

Sov. 2810. 

205. No Subordinate Lodge shall appear in procession in 
regalia, except to attend the funeral of a brother, or to celebrate 
the anniversary-day of the Order, April 26, without first having 
obtained permission so to do in the manner prescribed by law. 

G.L. By-Laws, Art. ii, Sec. 7. 

206. Neither a Lodge nor any of the members thereof may, 
in the name of the Order, resort to any scheme of raffles, lot- 
teries or gift enterprises, or schemes of hazard or chance of 
any kind, as a means to raise funds for any purpose of relief or 
assistance to such subordinates, or to individual members. 

Sov. 3953. 

207. Any Lodge asking pecuniary aid for any cause must 
apply first to its own Grand Lodge ; and if this body has not the 
ability to render the aid needed, the Grand Lodge may ask the 
assistance of the Grand Lodges in adjacent states or of all Grand 
Lodges, through their several Grand Masters, who shall have 
power to issue circulars stating circumstances, etc., in aid of the 
appeal. (^Sec. 117.) Sov. 860, 906. 

208. No Lodge may entertain any application for pecu- 
niary aid or assistance, under whatsoever scheme it may be 
presented, unless the same be authorized by the Grand Body, or 
its principal Grand Officer, of the jurisdiction in which such aid is 
solicited, and in accordance with the form prescribed for such 
purposes by the S.G.L. [Sec. 117). The Grand Sire has no 
power to authorize subordinates in the jurisdiction of Grand 
Bodies to apply for aid. Sov. 3953, 4467. 

209. The Grand Lodge discourages appeals for pecu- 
niary assistance from brothers or Lodges in case of loss or 
damage by fire. A Lodge may not ask aid for its individual 
members, nor send its own members or the widows of its de- 
ceased members to other places to ask aid of the Order. 



ILLINOIS ODD-FELLOWS' CODE. 49 

210. All "spirituous, vinous and malt liquors shall be ex- 
cluded from the Lodge rooms and ante-rooms or halls connected 
with or adjoining thereto, when under the control of any Sub- 
ordinate or Degree Lodge or Encampment of this Order. All 
previous regulations respecting the use of edibles in Lodge and 
Encampment rooms are repealed. Sov. 6198-9. 

The previous law {Sov. 3709) forbade the use of all edibles, and of all 
beverages except water. 

211. No festival may be held in connection with a regular 
meeting of a Lodge. 

212. A Lodge may not hold any anniversary, celebration, 
ball or party, using thereat the name or regalia of the Order, 
without the written consent of the Grand Master, allowing such 
use. The Grand Master may give such consent only upon a 
duly signed and sealed application of the Lodge by its N.G. and 
Secretary, with pledge of the Lodge and its officers that no 
intoxicating beverages of any kind shall be used or offered to 
members or guests at such festival, celebration, ball, party, etc. 
State Grand Bodies are required to enforce this law. Sov. 3709. 

213. If a Lodge violates the law of the preceding sec- 
tion, the Grand Master must suspend it at once, until the 
session of the Grand Lodge, or until suitable reparation and 
apology has been made. 

214. The law (Sec. 212) prohibiting anniversaries, etc., 
without the consent of the Grand Master, given upon the prom- 
ise that no intoxicating beverage shall be used, is not intended 
to prevent Lodges from joining in a public procession in regalia, 
in connection with other organizations, when invited to do so by 
the civil authorities; and permission for that purpose may be 
obtained from the respective jurisdictions under such regulations 
as they may prescribe. * Sov. 3739. 

215. In all cases where a Lodge desires to have a ball, 
festival, or other entertainment, in the name of the Order,. and 
makes due application to the Grand Master for a dispensation, 
such Lodge, in addition to the pledges now prescribed by law, 
{Sec. 212) shall satisfy the Grand Master, in such application, 
that the Lodge so applying for a dispensation has been fully in- 
demnified against any and all loss or liability by or through such 
ball, festival or other entertainment. The Grand Master m.ay 

5 



50 ILLINOIS ODD-FELLOWS' CODE. 

require such form of indemnity as in his opinion will protect the 
Lodge from loss. 

216. The Grand. Lodge recommends to the subordinates, 
in places where its annual sessions are held, that they do not 
give any public festival or entertainment to the Grand Lodge. 
The Grand Lodge will not accept any invitation for a public 
parade during its sessions. 

217. A Lodge or the members of a Lodge, as such, may 
not hoist a political banner or flag upon their Lodge room, or 
make or participate in any political demonstration whatever. 
And a Lodge has no right to declare any man a proper or an 
improper person for any public office. 

218. When in any town there are Lodges working in dif- 
ferent languages, no Lodge shall work in any language other 
than that assigned to it when it was instituted ; but a Lodge 
working regularly in one language may use Rituals in another 
tongue, when this latter is not the language of some other Lodge 
in the same town. 

219. Subordinate Lodges shall make such annual, semi- 
annual and other reports as may from time to time be required 
by law, blank forms for which shall be furnished from the office 
of the Grand Secretary. (///. Const., Art. viii, Sec. 3.) It shall 
be the duty of subordinates to make out their returns previous to 
installation. G. L. By-Laws, Art. ii, Sec. i. 

220. Lodges are required to forward all money sent to the 
Grand Secretary, as far as practicable, in the form of drafts, 
postoffice money orders, or certificates of deposit payable to the 
order of the Grand Secretary by his name ; and in case uncur- 
rent funds are sent, that officer is authorized to return them, or 
to charge the discount to the Lodge. In no case can a Lodge 
be credited for money lost in. transmission to the Grand Secre- 
tary. 

221. All acts of incorporation obtained by Subordinate 
Lodges must be submitted to their several state Grand Bodies 
for approval before the same can be accepted and acted upon by 
such subordinates ; and it is the duty of such state Grand Bodies 
to see that such charters contain no provision inconsistent with 
the laws of this Order, and that the rights of property of the state 
Grand Bodies and of the said Subordinate Lodges are as fully 



ILLINOIS ODD- FELLOWS' CODE. 51 

protected as the legislative provisions of the several states will 
permit. So7'. 3994. 

Provision having been made hy the Grand Lodge of Ilh'nois for the 
incorporation of its subordinates, special incorporating acts may not be 
obtained by them. — See the Acts in the Appendix. 



CHAPTER VIII. 

Lodge Officers: Their Election, Appointment, Resignation 
and Removal. 

222. The elective officers of the Lodge shall be a Noble 
Grand, a Vice Grand, a Secretary and a Treasurer, and, when 
deemed necessary, a Permanent Secretar^\ The appointed officers 
shall be a Warden, a Conductor, an Outside Guardian, an Inside 
Guardian, a Right and a Left Supporter to the Noble Grand, a 
Right and a Left Supporter to the Vice Grand, a Right and a Left 
Scene Supporter, and, at the option of the Lodge, a Chaplain. 

Sztb. Const. ^ Art. /?V, Sees, i, 2. 

A Lodge ma}" not elect two sets of officers. One case is on record in 
which a Lodge working in two languages elected two sets of officers, each 
set taking the chair alternately ; this having been allowed in the earl}' days 
of the Order, the S.G.L. refused to prohibit it in that Lodge, but also re- 
fused to allow it as a precedent. — Sov. iioo. 

223. A Lodge may appoint or elect a Chaplain, who is 
called an officer, because he holds an office ; but service as 
Chaplain does not make a brother eligible to an elective office. 
Lie is not liable to fine for absence, nor for failing to perform a 
chaplain's special duty. Sov. 4993, 7372. 

224. A Lodge may not create officers not provided by law. 
The appointment of a Degree Master, or of a Physician to the 
Lodge, as an officer, or of an Outside Guardian who is not a 
member of the Lodge, is illegal. Sov. 5847, 7820. 

225. A Room Warden or Steward may be appointed 
by the Lodge or under its order ; but he is not an officer, and 
not finable as such. 

226. A Grand Lodge may not elect or appoint an officer 
for a subordinate. Sov. 1476. 



52 ILLINOIS ODD-FELLOWS' CODE. 

227. There is no such office or officer as Past Grand ; the 
rank of P.G. is attained by service in the N.G.'s chair ; and 
the P.G. who has just passed the N.G.'s chair is called the 
Junior P.G., and should not be elected to any office; but he 
may be elected Representative to the Grand Lodge [which posi- 
tion is not an office of the Lodge]. In jurisdictions which allow 
reelection of officers, the N.G. may be reelected as his own 
successor. [In such case he becomes the Junior Past Grand as 
soon as he is reinstalled; but he does not act as such]. The 
Junior P.G. is not finable as an officer for absence from the 
Lodge ; but he may be fined for non-performance of duty, if the 
local law so provide. Sov. 2132, 11 13, 1317, 7737, TM^-^- 

228. When a Noble Grand is reelected, and reinstalled to 
that office, the Junior Past Grand of the last term is the proper 
one to officiate as sitting Past Grand and serve as a member of 
the Visiting Committee. 

229. A Lodge may not (i) compel members to accept 
office, but may refuse to accept the resignation of an installed 
officer; 

(2) Nor postpone a regular election, nor hold it at a special 
meeting ; 

(3) Nor require candidates to retire during an election ballot, 
as they are thereby deprived of their right to vote and to with- 
draw from the canvass at discretion; 

(4) Nor decide an election by lot; 

(5) Nor make rules on eligibility to office; 

(6) Nor require the N.G. to appoint the Steward it has 
chosen as Outside Guardian. 

230. Nominations for elective officers may be made at 
the regular meeting next preceding the night of election, and on 
the night of election immediately previous to the election for each 
office. Sttb. Const., Art. v, Sec. 3. 

231. Reelection and reinstallation should be had when 
an officer is to hold his office another term as his own successor. 

232. A brother may decline a nomination ; to do so he 
must address the Chair and be recognized by the Chair, and then 
state that he declines. If he does not so decline, votes cast for 
him must be counted as cast for a nominee. And a brother may 
be properly in nomination, even if absent. 



'ILLINOIS ODD-FELLOWS' CODE. 53 

233. The elective officers shall be chosen at the first regu- 
lar meetings in June and December. But if, by inadvertence, 
accident, or want of quorum, an election is not held at the proper 
time, at the next regular meeting the Lodge shall proceed to 
election under the proper order of business. 

234. The election of officers shall be by ballot, except in 
cases where there is but one candidate for an office, wlien th^ 
election may be by acclamation. A majority of all votes cast shall 
be necessary to an election. Ballots for persons not properly 
in nomination shall be considered blanks ; and blanks shall be 
counted as votes. When there are several candidates, and 
there is no choice, at each successive balloting the name of the 
candidate having the smallest number of votes in the preceding 
ballot shall be dropped from the nomination. 

Sub. Const., Art. v, Sec. J. 

235. Before each balloting the Secretary shall announce 
to the Lodge the names of candidates then legally in nomina- 
tion. 

236. In case of a tie vote in election, the Lodge has failed 
to elect; the Noble Grand shall then call for nominations for the 
office ; when nominations have been made, he shall again order 
the ballot, 

237. For election by acclamation {Sec. 234), the motion 
shall be ' that Brother A — B — be elected by acclamation ' ; the 
Lodge votes thereon by the voting sign ; and if the motion 
prevails, the brother is thereby elected without further vote. 

238. If a new Lodge is instituted, or a defunct one revived 
so late in a term that its officers have not fourteen nights' 
service before the beginning of the next regular term (January 
or July), new officers are not to be elected for such regular 
term; but the old officers hold over without election, as service 
for less than the majority of a term does not entitle them to the 
honors of service. The thirteen weeks or less, with the ensuing 
whole term, make but one term. But if there be fourteen 
nights, or more, new officers are chosen at the regular term, and 
the officers who have served receive the honors of their offices. 

S07.'. 794, 952, 2781. 

239. The appointive officers of a Lodge are appointed by 
the Noble Grand, except the Supporters of the Vice Grand, who 



54 ILLINOIS ODD-FELLOWS' CODE. 

are appointed by that officer. The appointments, except for 
vacancies, are made at installation, and may not be made before. 

Sov. 1887, and Ritual . 

240. In the absence of the Noble Grand elect, at an in- 
stallation of officers, the Vice Grand cannot make the appoint- 
ments of all the officers for the term. But when the Lodge at 
its optiofi [^Sec. 222) orders the nomination of a Chaplain, the 
officer then presiding shall appoint one. 

241. Officers cannot be elected or installed by a Lodge 
that is under suspension or expulsion, nor can the honors be 
bestowed upon officers whose terms expire when a Lodge is in 
such a condition. Sov. 1391. 

242. There is no restriction upon the reelection or re- 
appointment of officers; and Lodges should elect the best 
qualified members to office without regard to prior holding of 
the same office. 

243. There is no reason why persons akin to each other, 
no matter how close the relation, should not hold office at 
the same time in the same Lodge. Sov. 4992. 

244. The Third Degree or Degree of Truth, being the 
working degree of a Lodge, all officers must have that degree. 

245. The general principle prevails that the law is satisfied 
if the officer elect is found eligible at the time of induction into 
office. Thus, the. Vice Grand is generally nominated and 
elected Noble Grand before the close of his full term ; and such 
nomination and election is legal. So an acting Noble Grand 
may be elected to any station requiring the rank of Past Grand, 
if his term of office expires before his entering upon the duties 
of the new station (except Representative, Sec. 76). 

Sov. 4609, 821 1. 

246. An officer may be elected to an office higher than 
that which he holds, if eligible thereto, thus vacating the lower 
office. A member may be elected, but cannot be installed, while 
indebted to the Lodge ; but an appointed officer need only be 
in good standing when appointed and installed. 

247. A State Grand Body having accepted the Degree of 
Rebekah, and allowed it to be communicated to its subordinates, 
it is the duty of the elective officers of such subordinates only 



ILLINOIS ODD-FELLOWS' CODE. 55 

lo be instructed in the work of the degree before installation 
into their respective chairs. 

Sov. 5497 (adopted in secret session), 5848. 

248. All elective officers and the Warden and the Outside 
Guajdian must have the Third Degree and the Degree of 
Rebekah before they are installed. Stib. Const., Art. v, Sec. 2. 

249. No brother is eligible as N. G. unless he has served 
a term as V. G. (filling a vacancy at close of term is considered 
legal service for the term, by Sec. 310); nor is he eligible as 
V.G. unless he has served a term in an inferior office ; except, 
in a new or revived Lodge (Sec. 315) or as provided in Sec. 250 
hereafter. A Grand Lodge cannot make a Third Degree 
member eligible as N.G. on one term's service in a subordinate 
office ; nor may local law require other service than one term 
in an inferior office as qualification for V.G. Service as 
Chaplain does not give eligibility (Sec. 223). Loss, mutilation 
or disability of the right hand does not disqualify a brother of 
sufficient service and degree-rank for the office even of N.G. 

U.S. Dig. ofi^^T,p. 49; Sov. 1067, 1080, 4370, 4993, 4375. 

250. In the case of a vacancy in the office of Noble 
Grand or Vice Grand, and all qualified members refusing to 
accept either of said offices, the Lodge may elect a Third Degree 
member thereto, who is entitled to the honors as in the case of 
constituting a new Lodge : provided, however, that a dispensa- 
tion for the purpose be first obtained from the proper authority 
in the jurisdiction to which the Lodge belongs. The same rule 
applies in case of a regular election under similar condidons. 

Sov. 2661,2561. 

251. No brother shall be eligible to the chair of the 
Noble Grand unless he has served a regular term as Vice Grand; 
nor shall any brother be eligible as Vice Grand unless he has 
served one term in some inferior office. But if all qualified 
members refuse to accept the office of Noble Grand or Vice 
Grand, a Third Degree member may, under dispensation, be 
elected to either of said offices without previous service. 

Stib. Const., Art. v. Sec. i. 

252. A Past Vice Grand of one Lodge is eligible to the 
office of Noble Grand in any other Lodge which he may join, 
if he has proof of such service, but not without such proof; and 



66 ILLINOIS ODD-FELLOWS' CODE. 

the possession of a P. O, Degree is legal evidence of having 
passed the office to which it pertains. If an installed Vice 
Grand has been illegally displaced, and for that reason has not 
filled the chair, he is eligible as Noble Grand. 

253. A brother is eligible to the office of Noble Grand 
who, in consequence of sickness, has been unable to perform 
the duties of Vice Grand for a majority of the nights of his 
term in that office, and who has been excused from time to time 
by the Lodge; because his absence was occasioned by a provi- 
dential interposition, over which he had no control. It is 
otherwise where the absence is voluntary, even though he may 
have the leave of the Lodge. (^Sec. 268). Sov. 1886, 2309. 

254. A brother who has held the office of Permanent Sec- 
retary for six months, making service of twenty-six nights, is 
eligible to the office of Vice Grand. 

255. If a candidate not eligible is chosen to office, the 
election is void and must be held anew. 

The following case and decision are from Sov. 5920 : In election of offi- 
cers at regular time R was elected over H by one vote. Next meeting the 
Lodge set aside the election because one unqualified member voted : for 
whom he voted was not shown. H was then elected. Decided, That the 
action of the Lodge was wrong, and the installation of R by order of the 
Grand Master was right. The report does not state what the error was, 
but it is plain that the Lodge had no right, in the absence of evidence, to 
assume that the illegal vote was cast for R. Hence it could not presume 
that the election itself was illegal in result. 

256. The practice is well settled for presiding officers to 
fill the subordinate stations hy p?^o tern, appointments, in places 
of absentees, previous to proceeding to business, and such is the 
universal custom in the Order. By-laws on the subject are 
unnecessary. The right of the presiding officers to make their 
appointments according to their discretion is a constitutional 
one and cannot be infringed upon by by-laws or resolutions of 
the Lodge. A Lodge may not require the Noble Grand to 
appoint as O.G. the brother chosen by it as Steward. A Vice- 
Grand pro te7ii. may appoint pro te7npore his own supporters, if 
the regular incumbents are not present. 

257. When an officer elect fails to aj3pear for installation, 
and an insufficient reason for his absence is given, the installing 
officer may require the Lodge to hold a new election. Or the 
Lodge may rely upon its laws for vacating an office, and in due 



ILLINOIS ODD-FELLOWS' CODE. 57 

time declare the ofiice forfeited and elect a new officer, who 
shall be the legal officer, and shall be installed as such. If the 
absentee is the Noble Grand, the duties of the office devolve 
upon the last installed N.G. ; and as all officers are obligated to 
hold until their successors are installed, every officer holds on, 
in case the elected successors are absent, until due action is 
taken. Sov. 2215-16, 2403-4, 8337. 

By Illinois law the installing officer may declare the office vacant and 
order a new election, if no reason be given for absence of an officer elect at 
installation. 

258. If an officer elect of a Lodge on installation night 
refuses to retire to the ante-room for examination ; or, after hav- 
ing so retired, refuses to return to the Lodge room to be installed 
when required to do so by the Grand Marshal; or if an officer 
elect resigns on the evening of installation, the installing officer 
must declare the office vacant and hold a new election. 

259. Officers can be removed only in accordance with 
the laws of the Grand Lodge. Removal from office is not a 
penalty that can be inflicted for immoral or improper conduct : 
it is allowable for official misconduct, {^Secs. 626, 748.) Sus- 
pension from office is not allowable. 

260. The suspension of an officer for cause and- as a 
punishment, whether for a long or a short period, vacates his 
office. Sov. 7772. 

261. If any officer shall be absent for three successive 
meetings, except for sickness, his office may be declared vacant 
by vote of the Lodge, if he is an elective officer, but by the 
officer who appointed him, if he is an appointed officer. All 
vacancies shall be filled in the manner of the former selection, 
to serve the residue of the term; and the officer so serving shall 
be entitled to the full honors of the office. 

Stib. Const., Art. v, Sec. 6. 

The following case came under this law: Case. — H, being V.G., was 
absent six meetmgs, and no excuse was made. The Lodge declared the 
chair vacant. H claimed that he was absent on account of the sickness of 
his family, and that he had sent excuse, which was not given. 

Decided, That a Lodge is entitled to have officers who will attend to 
their duties. (111. V, 663.) * 

The following case comes under the principle that an object which is for- 
bidden is not allowed to be reached by indirect means : the decision was 
" approved under the peculiar state of facts embodied therein." — Sov. 2859, 
2925. 

Where a N.G. obtains leave of absence from his Lodge for three months 



58 ILLINOIS ODD-FELLOWS' CODE, ■ 

and overstays his time, being absent for a majority of ihe nights in the term, 
his office is declared vacant by a vote of the Lodge and a P.G. elected to his 
vacancy, the Lodge cannot, by the resignation of the latter and the reelec- 
tion of the former for the remainder of that term, make him a P.G. entitled 
to the honors of a P.N.G. 

262. When there is no local law for vacating an office, an 
installed officer does not vacate his office by absence. 

Sov. 2215. 

263. The vacation of office provided for in Sec. 261 can- 
not be declared until after the third absence, to wit, on the 
fourth night. But if the Lodge does not remove the officer 
promptly, but allows him to resume the functions of his office v^ith- 
out discipline, it cannot afterward call up the case and remove 
him. And if an officer takes a vi>iting card and avowedly 
departs for a long period, without resigning his office, the Lodge 
may immediately vacate his chair, and proceed to fill it. 

264. An officer of a subordinate who resigns forfeits the 
honors of his office, which enure to his successor. 

Sov. 1245, 5834. 



CHAPTER IX. 
Officers of Lodges: Their Powers, Duties and Privileges. 

265. Officers have such powers and perform such duties 
as are assigned them by their charges, by general laws, and by 
the constitutions and by-laws of their Lodges. 

U. S. Digest of \%\'],p. 49. 
All members of the Order are equally bound to be governed 
by its laws and well known usages ; and for refusal they may be 
tried for conduct unbecoming. Official position gives no indul- 
gence. Sov.\2^\. 

266. The Representative of a Lodge occupies the same 
position as to his Lodge after election that he did before. 

267. An officer of a Lodge cannot fill his station by proxy 
even with the consent of the Lodge, nor accept an office with 



ILLmOIS ODD-FELLOWS' CODE, 59 

any conditions or reservations, nor escape fine for absence by 
providing a substitute. 

268. A Lodge has no right to grant leave of absence cover- 
ing a majority of nights of a term ; if leave is given, forfeiture 
of honors still follows the absence. ^Sec. 261 and note). 

Sov. 1886. 

269. No officer, except the Secretaries, can be exeinpt from 
dues ; but the Outside Guard and Warden may be paid for their 
services, at discretion of the Lodge. A Lodge may pay a Sec- 
retary a salary besides or including the amount of his dues ; but 
the allowance of salary may not be retrospective, and must be 
fixed before he is elected. 

270. When an officer who is paid (directly or by exemp- 
tion from dues) resigns, he does not forfeit his compensation for 
the period during which he served. Sov. 2268. 

271. It is the duty of the installing officer to satisfy him- 
self fully, by a rehearsal, that the Vice Grand elect and Noble 
Grand elect have faithfully committed and can impart the entire 
Secret Work, to and including the Third Degree, and that all the 
elective officers shall have committed to memory the opening and 
closing charges that are required of them, and that thjsy are 
thoroughly conversant with all their various lectures and charges ; 
in lack of which qualification he shall declare the office vacant 
and order a new election of a competent member. All appointed 
officers are required to commit their opening and closing charges 
and the charges in the Initiatory Degree so as to be able to pro- 
ceed without the books, and to be thoroughly conversant with the 
work, lectures and charges of the degrees, so as to do the duty 
assigned them in a manner acceptable to the Lodge, within one 
month from the date of installation ; in default of which, the 
Noble Grand shall declare the office vacant. 

272. The holding of office does not deprive members of 
any of their rights and privileges in a Lodge, such as the right 
of debate, of voting, etc [Sec. 109). A Grand Master may 
take part in the proceedings of his Lodge : a member acting as 
Grand Officer at an installation may vote at any election held 
by the installing officer [Sees. 257, 258), if duly qualified. 

Sov. 1503, 2265,4843. 

273. It shall be the duty of the Noble Grand to preside 



60 ILLINOIS ODD-FELLOWS' CODE. 

in the Lodge, and enforce a due observance of the constitution 
and laws; to see that all the officers of the Lodge and members 
of committees perform their respective duties; to appoint all 
[appointive] officers, except the Supporters of the Vice Grand; 
to appoint the majority of all committees not otherwise provided 
for; to give the casting vote [Sec. 1006), only, on all matters or 
questions before the Lodge, except that he shall be entitled to 
vote in all ballots. He shall inspect and announce the result of 
all votes by the Lodge; have charge of the charter, which he 
must always have in the Lodge while in session ; draw upon 
. the Treasurer for all sums that have been voted by the Lodge, 
and none other. He shall convene special meetings at his own 
discretion, or as directed in Art. I, Sec. 3, of this Constitution 
^Sec. 666), and perform such other duties as appertain to his 
office. He shall not make or second any motion, neither shall 
he take part in any debate while in the chair. 

Sub. Const., Ai't. nV, Sec. 3. 

274. A Noble Grand has no right to refuse to put any 
legitimate question to his Lodge; his differing with the Lodge 
has nothing to do with the matter. Sov. 4992. 

275. The limitation in the Constitution that the Noble 
Grand shall *'give the casting vote, only," (^'f^f.. 273) refers to 
questions of policy before the Lodge. The Noble Grand may 
join in debate by leaving the chair. 

The Secretary (under Sec. 272) has the same right to debate 
that any other member has ; and he or any other member may 
quote, read, or cause to be read, from the records any proceed- 
ings germane to the question under consideration. 

276. The N.G. being the proper custodian of the Rituals, 
and all other books containing or relating to the secret work of 
the Order, may intrust them to his subordinate officers for the 
purpose of qualification while in the Lodge room ; but it is un- 
lawful to take these books from the room. ; and the laws prohibit 
the waiting of the initiatory charges as well as all other parts of 
the work. The N.G. holds the books, etc.,^ in his possession 
until his successor is installed, - Ritual and Sov. 4467. 

277. It is not allowed to Lodges to have the various parts 
of the work printed in slips to give the officers opportunity to 
learn them. 



ILLINOIS ODD-FELLOWS' CODE, 61 

278. No one but the acting N.G. may draw on the Treas- 
urer for funds. He has no power or control of the funds of the 
Lodge but what is expressly given in the constitution and by- 
laws. He cannot hold the office of Treasurer. 

279. The acting" N.G. has a right to call special meetings 
of his Lodge, and no one else has that right. The by-laws or 
special resolutions of a Lodge may require the N.G..to convene 
special meetings under certain circumstances, but his original 
powers are not thereby infringed. If the N.G. is absent from 
home or incapacitated from acting, and there is emergency, the 
V.G. has the right to act in his place. Further than this there 
is no legal provision. 

280. A Lodge cannot dictate the words to be used by the 
N.G. upon any occasion. 

281. When there is no P.G. present at initiation to 
deliver the P.G.'s charge, it may be delivered by the N.G., but 
never by the V.G. Sov. 1895. 

282. No person can officiate as N.G. or V.G. unless he 
has taken the obligation of the office, except in certain cases 
provided for in the Ritual {^Sec. 284). A Supporter, unless he 
is a P.G. or P.V.G., cannot administer an O.B.N. 

283. The N.G. of a Lodge always, when present at its 
meetings, is required to preside ; and it is not only the right, but 
the duty, of the V.G. to act as N.G. in the absence of that 
officer to fulfill all his functions (except as said in Sec. 281), and 
to wear the N.G.'s regalia when in that chair. A N.G., or a V.G. 
acting as N.G., cannot waive his right and place a P.G. in the 
N.G.'s chair during the presence in the Lodge room of either of 
the first two officers above named : provided^ that this decision is 
not to be considered as applicable to a temporary absence of 
those officers dunng a portion of a Lodge meeting, in which 
case the chair must be filled as provided in the Ritual; and pro- 
vided, further, that the N.G., or V.G. acting as such, may invite 
a P.G. to the chair during initiation or to confer degrees, or on 
occasion of a visitation of Grand Officers. But if the V.G. is 
not in the principal chair according to law, the proceedings of 
the Lodge are not thereby made illegal or invalid. 

Sov. 1068, 1475, 2676, 3540, 4070, 4187. 

284. " Temporary Absence," as used in the Ritual and in 



62 ILLINOIS ODD-FELLOWS' CODE. 

Sec. 283, ill relation to the N.G., must be taken to mean the 
absence of the N.G. from his chair merely, while he still remains 
in the Lodge room, or ante-room. Whenever the N.G. leaves 
the Lodge room, then the duty of occupying his chair devolves 
upon the V.G. The words have the same meaning as applied 
to the V.G. Sov, 8092. 

285. Though the N.G., if present, should preside in a trial, 
and in all business except in the cases named in Sec. 283, still, 
Avhen a P.G. is called to the chair without objection, and does 
actually preside, the action had during the occupany of the chair 
is not, therefore, void. Sov. 5852. 

286. A N.G. desiring to be excused for absence should 
make his excuse to the Lodge ; and the V.G. should state any 
questions arising thereupon. 

287. The V.G. shall assist the N.G. in presiding in the 
Lodge. He shall appoint his own Supporters (^Sov. 1887), and 
the minority of all committees not otherwise provided for. He 
shall have special charge of the door, under the N.G. In the 
absence of the N.G., he shall preside ^Sec. 283), and perform 
all other duties required by the charges and usage of the Order. 

Sub. Const., Art. in, Sec. 4. 

288. The V.G. can confer degrees, when acting as N.G., 
and then only. If he observes any breach of order or decorum 
which has escaped the notice of the N.G. it is his right and duty 
to attend to it, using his gavel for the purpose. 

289. In the absence of the V.G. and of all P.G's and 
P.V.G's, the N.G. must appoint a member to fill that chair. But 
when the V.G. leaves his chair temporarily during Lodge hours, 
his R.S. fills it. If the V.G. and all P.G,'s and P.V.G's are 
absent from an initiation, the N.G. must act as V.G. and P.G. 
also, because a Supporter or a pro-tempore V.G. (unless he is a 
P.V.G.) cannot administer the O.B.N. When both N.G. and 
V.G. are absent, any P.G. may take the chair, as determined by 
majority of the brothers present, and not by any by-law regula- 
tion, and may perform all the duties of N.G. and V.G. 

290. The V.G. of one Lodge is not qualified to open 
another Lodge, even if all qualified members of that other 
Lodge are absent. 



ILLINOIS ODD-FELLOWS' CODE, 63 

291. The Secretary shall keep an accurate record of the 
proceedings of the Lodge. He shall write all communications; 
fill up all certificates and cards granted by the Lodge ; issue all 
summonses or notices required; attest to all moneys ordered 
paid at regular meetings, and none other. He shall make out 
at the end of his term the semi-annual report required by Art. 
XI of this Constitution [Sec. 103 1), and accurately record the 
same and the annual report in the Register of Reports. He 
shall also, at the close of his term, make out a report for the 
Lodge, showing fully its work and condition during the term. 
He shall perform the duties of the Permanent Secretary (Sees. 
297, 300), if none be chosen, and be exempt from all dues; he 
may receive such further compensation as the Lodge may have 
fixed prior to his election. He shall also keep a list of all war- 
rants drawn on the Treasurer, recording the date, amount and 
name of person in whose favor drawn; and if the warrant be 
payable from any special fund, that fact shall appear both on 
the warrant and on the list. He shall also keep a register of 
membership, enrolling the names of members of the Lodge, 
wM'th date of proposal, initiation (or signing the constitution upon 
admission by card or certificate), resignation, withdrawal by 
card, death, suspension, reinstatement or expulsion; also the 
recording the conferring of degrees and the attainment of official 
rank. Sub. Const., Art. in, Sec. 5. 

292. A Secretary pro tern, is the proper ofificer to sign 
cards, papers and documents of the meeting at which he offici- 
ates, CA^en though any of them relate to himself. Sov. 6986. 

293. The officers of subordinates have no power to use 
the seal, unless so ordered by the subordinates, or in accordance 
with the enactments of Grand Bodies, or in the legitimate busi- 
ness of the subordinate, where the use of the seal is necessary. 
[Sov. 13 18, 4240, 6752). A Secretary may affix the seal of the 
Lodge to any document which he is authorized or required to 
certify to by law, whether the document has been brought before 
his Lodge or not; but he may not use the seal of the Lodge in 
any other case without it^ special order. The seal is to be used 
by the Secretary only, and not by the Permanent Secretary : the 
P.S. has no right to put the seal upon the notices of arrears 
which he issues. 

294. The Scribe of an Encampment must furnish to the 



64 . ILLINOIS ODD-FELLOWS' CODE, 

Secretary of each Subordinate Lodge whose members are mem- 
bers of the Encampment a Ust of such members; then it is the 
duty of each vSecretary to keep a register of the Patriarchal 
members of his Lodge, and of the Encampments to which they 
belong, and to advise each Scribe, within a reasonable time, of 
the withdrawal, suspension or expulsion of any member of his 
Lodge who is also a member of the Encampment; and also of 
the reinstatement of any such. Sov. 1250, 8049. 

295. Neither Secretary of a Lodge is required by the 
constitution or by their charges to give notice to watchers, 
unless required to do so by the Lodge. It rests with the Lodge to 
determine whether and how the Secretaries shall assist the 
Visiting Committee ^Sec. 603) in the care of the sick. 

296. If a brother of the Third Degree in good standing 
desire a certificate of his grade and standing, to enable him to 
join an Encampment, he is entitled to receive the same from the 
Secretary of the Lodge upon application to that officer ; and no 
vote of the Lodge is necessary to authorize the issue of it. 

Sov. 4466. 

297. The Permanent Secretary (if any be had) shall be 
chosen annually, at the election in December. He shall keep 
the accounts between the Lodge and its members. He shall pay 
over to the Treasurer immediately all moneys received by him, 
and shall inform the Treasurer from time to time, or at the last 
payment in each term, how much of the money paid to him 
belongs to any special fund of the Lodge. 

He shall notify all members who are at any time in arrears for 
eleven months' dues, delivering the notice in person, if practi- 
cable, but if not, then mailing it to the member's last known 
address ; and at the expiration of the next succeeding month, 
if said member's account is not settled in whole or in part, suffi- 
cient to reduce his arrears to less than one full year's dues, he 
shall present the name of such member to the Lodge. Prior to 
the last meeting in March, June, September and December, 
respectively, he shall notify all members wdio are in arrears 
for one quarter's dues. [Sec. 767.) 

He shall at the close of each term make to the Lodge a -de- 
tailed report of the business of his office, and have his books 
written up for the Finance Committee, whom he shall meet prior 
to the first meeting in the next succeeding term to exhibit his 



ILLINOIS ODD-FELLOWS' CODE. 65 

books and papers, and to aid them in the examination thereof; 
and at the first regular meeting of the new tenn he shall present 
his report to the Lodge, with a statement of the balance of ac- 
count of each unsuspended member. He shall make out the 
Annual Report to the Grand Lodge as required by Art. XI 
[Sec. 103 1 ), and shall deliver it to the Secretary for record and 
for forwarding to the Grand Lodge. He shall be exempt from 
all dues, and receive such further compensation as the Lodge 
may have fixed prior to his election. Sub. Const., A^^t. Hi, Sec. 6. 

298. A Secretary should not pay money to a Treasurer 
who has not been legally installed, with a valid bond ; and in 
case of such illegal installation, the Lodge should direct the Sec- 
retary not to make such payments. 

299. A Permanent Secretary, becoming satisfied that a 
payment was made to him which he has omitted to enter, has a 
right to enter such payment and give credit to the brother for the 
payment as of the date when it was actually made ; and if a pay- 
ment made at the earlier day would have made the brother 
entitled to benefits, the Lodge must allow the claim. 

300. Prior to installation into office, the Permanent Secre- 
tary shall give a joint and several bond to the Trustees of the 
Lodge, with two sureties to be approved by the Lodge, with 
such penalties and conditions as from time to time may be pre- 
scribed by the Lodge. When the duties of Permanent Secretary 
are performed by the Recording Secretary, the same bond shall 
be required of him as of the Permanent Secretary; and the 
Grand Secretary is instructed to furnish blank bonds to Lodges 
for Permanent Secretary and Treasurer. A bond for the term 
commencing with January will not answer for the term com- 
mencing with July, as it is not binding on the obligors; and 
alterations of old official bonds should never be allowed. 

301. The Treasurer, prior to his installation in office, shall 
give a joint and several bond to the Trustees of the Lodge, with 
two sureties to be approved by the Lodge, with such penalties 
and conditions as from time to time may be prescribed by the 
Lodge. Such bond, before being presented to the Lodge, must 
have been submitted to and approved by a majority of the 
Trustees. He shall keep the funds, notes and securities of the 
Lodge ; pay all orders drawn on him by the Noble Grand and 
attested by the Secretary, and none others; keep a full account 

6 



66 ILLINOIS ODD-FELLOWS' CODE. 

of all moneys expended; and give the Lodge, at the first meet- 
ing in each month, a statement of its funds. He shall keep a 
separate account of any special fund instituted by the Lodge, 
and report to the Permanent Secretary, at or before the last 
meeting in each term, any money received by him as interest or 
dividends on any notes, securities or stocks held by him. He 
shall make for the Lodge, at the close of his term, a full report 
of his receipts and disbursements, and have his books written 
up for the Finance Committee, whom he shall meet prior to the 
first meeting in the next succeeding term, to exhibit his books, 
papers, securities, bonds, funds, and other property in his pos- 
session; and at the first regular meeting of the next term he 
shall present his report to the Lodge. He shall pay over and 
deliver up, when legally called upon, all moneys, bonds, books, 
papers, and other property in his possession or under his con- 
trol, belonging to the Lodge, to his successor in office, or to 
such person as the Lodge may appoint to receive the same. 

Stib. Const., Art. Hi, Sec. 7. 

302. The Treasurer must give a receipt for all moneys, 
bonds, securities, documents and papers coming into his hands 
by and through the hands of the Trustees. 

303. The Trustees of a Lodge are not to be named indi- 
vidually in the bond of an officer, nor can the amount of the bond 
be fixed by a by-law. 

304. A Treasurer may refuse to pay an order which he 
knozvs to have been drawn by mistake or fraud, until he can 
report the facts to the Lodge. 

305. The Treasurer, and not the committee of Trustees, is 
the proper custodian, not only of the funds, but of all the notes, 
bonds (except official bonds. Sec. 1022), etc., belonging to the 
Lodge. 

306. It shall be the duty of the Junior Past Grand of this 
Lodge to act in the capacity of Past Grand, and to deliver the 
charge of that office to candidates. Any Past Grand may act as 
Noble Grand or Vice Grand, Avhen legally called thereto. 

Sub. Const., Art. m, Sec. 8. 

307. All other officers [that is, all others than those enu- 
merated in previous sections of the constitution] shall perform such 



ILLINOIS ODD-FELLOWS' CODE, 07 

duties as are prescribed for them by the regulations and charges 
of their offices and the by-laws of the Lodge. 

Stib. Const., Art. Hi, Sec. 9. 

308. The Outside Guardian must not admit members of 
his own Lodge to the ante -room without the signal, when the 
Lodge is open. The Guardians of the Lodge should require a 
strict observance of the regulations of the Order. If the O.G. is 
absent at the beginning of the opening ceremony, but arrives 
before it is completed, he should take his place at once. 

*:}:* For Diagram of the Positions of Officers in the Lodge, see Appendix. 



CHAPTER X. 
Past Officers and Past-Official Degrees. 

309. A Grand Lodge may not abridge the privileges per- 
taining to the rank of Past Grands, viz., their right to past-official 
degrees, eligibility to office, precedence belonging to their grade, 
privilege of attending the meetings of their Grand Lodge, and 
the right to vote for Grand Officers ; and Past Grands, having 
certain rights and privileges by the fundamental laws of the 
Order, cannot surrender them to anybody in the Order. They 
may fail to use these, but their rights remain to them. (wSee Sees. 

29.31)- 

U.S. Digestofi%^'],p.4.T,', Sov. 1084, 1119,1126,1289,1321. 

The following provisions in G. L. Constitutions are declared illegal : 
'^ The Past Grands and Representatives of each Lodge shall have one vote 
collectively for officers of the Grand Lodge"; and "that each Subordinate 
Lodge shall be entitled to as many votes in the election of Grand Officers as 
there are Past Grands belonging to said Subordinate Lodge ; and in the 
absence of any of the Past Grands the Representative shall have the right to 
cast all the votes that his Lodge is entitled to." Sov. 5849, 5851. 

310. For services in the offices of N.G., V.G., and Secre- 
tary, but not for service as Permanent Secretaiy, degrees 
termed Past-Official are given without fee. They are given only 
(except as in Sees. 311 and 315) for actual service for the majority 
of nights of a tenn ending with a close of a term, or for service 
filling a vacancy ending with the close of a term; for the honors 



68 ILLINOIS ODD-FELLOWS' CODE. 

of office go to the last incumbent in any term, however short the 
remnant of a term for which he fills it. Hence an officer who 
resigns loses honors and the degree. 

(j.S. Digest of 1847, 43? 49? 5^; Sov. By-Laws xxiii ; Sov. 
1245, 1613, 1901. 

For the history of these Degrees, see the Historical Notes in the Ap- 
pendix. 

311. Grand Lodges are authorized to cause to be con- 
ferred the honorary degree of Past Secretary, on any Past Grarid 
in good standing, who has served a lawful term as Vice Grand 
and Noble Grand in a Subordinate Lodge. Sov. 6213. 

312. Past-Official Degrees are rewards for services in 
offices of subordinates, and may be conferred at any proper time 
and place upon those who have earned them and produce proper 
certificates. They are not necessary to membership in a Grand 
Lodge [Sec. 31). Grand Lodges may authorize D.D.G. Masters 
[Lodge Deputies, in Illinois] to confer them at any time, or 
may otherwise direct. Lodges give the certificates of service 
without vote. Any Grand Lodge may confer the G.L. and P.O. 
Degrees upon a Past Grand of another jurisdiction, upon his 
presenting a visiting card from his own Lodge and a certificate 
of his own Grand Master and G. Secretary, under seal, showing 
that he is entitled to them. A Grand Master of one state may 
confer the P.O. Degrees on a P.G. of another state, upon the 
written request of his Grand Master, accompanied by the con- 
sent of his Grand Lodge. 

Sov. 2134, 8090, 1091, 1901, 1902, 3359, 4367, 2308. 

313. The Grand-Lodge Degree, since it can be used only 
at a session of the Grand Lodge and thus draws after it actual 
membership, may not be conferred elsewhere than at a session 
of a Grand Lodge [Sec. 36). Sov. 1091, 2135, 4838. 

314. A Past Officer may receive the P.O. Degrees to which 
he is entitled (but not the Grand Lodge Degree, Sec. 313) from 
the Deputy Grand Master of his Lodge, upon presentation of 
a certificate of service from the Lodge, at any proper time and 
place; and when any Deputy of the Grand Master is not in 
possession of all the P.O. Degrees, he may authorize any P.G. 
in his Lodge, or any adjacent Deputy of the Grand Master hav- 
ing those in which he may be deficient, to confer them. The 
Past Officer has the honors and may obtain the degree of his 



ILLIN'OJS ODD-FELLOWS\ CODE. 69 

office as soon as he has finished his term. The Past N.G. need 
not wait a term as sitting P.G. 

315. The first N.Gvof a new or revived Lodge, or one who 
has served his term as N.G. upon being elected from the Third 
Degree by dispensation i^Sec. 250), is entitled to the P.O. Degrees 
of P.V.G. and Past Secretary without actual service; and the 
first V.G. of a new or revived Lodge, or a V.G. chosen such 
without previous service, by dispensation, is entitled in like 
manner to the Degree of Past Secretary. Sov. 1083, 1266, 2661. 

316. A Vice Grand who is promoted to the N.G.'s chair to 
fill a vacancy is not entitled to the Degree of P.V.G. , unless 
he is thus promoted in the first term of a new or revived Lodge. 

317. A brother cannot be recognized as a P.G. unless 
he produces proof that he has attained that rank. [But see 
Sec. 522 for an exception to this rule as to a visiting brother.] 

Sov. 410. 

318. A brother is not entitled to any honors of office past 
unless he can prove such service ; and the possession of a P.O. 
Degree is legal evidence of having passed the office to which it 
pertains. A brother who once passes an office in any Lodge 
carries with him to any other Lodge he may afterward join all 
the official honors he may have earned. A P.V.G. of one Lodge 
is eligible to the chair of N.G. of any other Lodge of which he 
may become a member, if he has evidence of such service, and 
is eligible over all who have not such evidence. 

319. Service as Noble Grand to the very last inovient is a 
preliminary condition to becoming a Junior Past Grand. But 
service alone is not sufficient. A Past Grand never becomes 
such until he is installed; and as Past Grands only can sit in a 
Grand Lodge, it follows that until a Noble Grand is installed into 
that office [or position] he cannot be elected a Representative 
[Sec. 1034). Sov. 621 1, 3210. 

320. The Junior Past Grand [Sec. 227), although not an 
officer, has the duty of occupying in his Lodge the chair of 
Past Grand for one term and of delivering the Past Grand's 
charge at initiations. Sov. 3512, 7372-3. 

If the Noble Grand is reelected, the last Junior Past Grand 
may be called on to serve two terms. Sec, 228, 



70 ILLINOIS ODD-FELLOWS' CODE. 

321. Twenty-six meetings of the Subordinate Lodge, 
whether held weekly or at longer periods, are required to 
constitute a full term ; but if circumstances over which the 
Lodge can exercise no control shall occui* by which the meetings 
cannot be held, the Junior Past Grand should not from that fact 
alone be disqualified from admission into the Grand Lodge. If, 
however, the meetings of a Lodge are suspended by its own 
seeking or application, for causes over which it could exercise 
control, and the Lodge fails to comply with the requisites of 
the law, the officers of the Lodge for the term would therefore 
properly be deprived of their Past-Official Degrees. The 
dispensation of the Grand Lodge or Grand Master could have 
no effect on the result. Sov. ^781. 

*:{:* Concerning the rights of Past Officers to membership in Grand Bodies, 
and their privileges therein, see Chapter II (especially Sees. 29, 31). Con- 
cerning their rights and powers in their Subordinate Lodges, see Chapters 
VII, VIII, IX, and XL 



CHAPTER XL 
Deputies of the Grand Master. 

322. The Representative in the Grand Lodge of each 
Subordinate Lodge shall, with the approval of the Grand Master, 
be, ex officio^ Lodge Deputy Grand Master for his Lodge : 
Provided, however, that the Grand Master may, in his discretion, 
appoint any Past Grand of a Lodge as Lodge Deputy of such 
Lodge, and may, at his pleasure, remove any Lodge Deputy 
Grand Master. The Lodge Deputy Grand Masters shall obey 
the commands of the Grand Master, and perform such other 
duties as may be imposed upon them by law. ///. Const., Art. v. 

By the Constitution of 1847, Art. v, Sec. 2, there were created appointive 
officers of the Grand Lodge called R. W. District Deputy Grand Masters ; 
and the state was divided into districts, generally consisting of one county, 
with a D.D. Grand Master for each. (See Digest of 1852, Sec. 38, in Jour. 
Grand Lodge 111., Vol. I, p. 340.) But in 1855 this system was abolished \iy 
the adoption of the system of Lodge Deputy Grand Masters ; and whatever 
in the laws required the Grand Master to district the state and appoint D.D. 
Grand Masters, and whatever required, recognized or implied such an 
^offi<:er, was repealed. That is, no officer is recognized by law as a Deputy 
of the Grand Master for a District. But as the office created in its place is 



ILLINOIS ODD-FELLOWS' CODE. 71 

identical with it in function and different only in extent, the laws of the 
S.G.L. for D.D.G. Masters apply to the local deputies of Illinois; and even 
the rules respecting D.D. Grand Sires are analogically applicable to them. 

323. A Representative does not become Deputy until he is 
commissioned by the Grand Master. The regular commissions 
of Deputies go into effect on the first of January in each year, 
and remain in force for one year (unless revoked or superseded) 
and until other appointments are made, even though the Grand 
Master issuing them has given place to another. 

324. A Lodge cannot under any circumstances elect or 
appoint a Deputy of the Grand Master; nor can it elect a Rep- 
resentative to supersede one legally in office. Expulsion from the 
Lodge vacates the place of Representative or Deputy, of course. 

325. A Grand Lodge may not enact that a Deputy of the 
Grand Master shall have the Grand Lodge Degree as a qualifi- 
cation ; nor shall it forbid him to hold ofhce in his Lodge. 

Sov. 4887, 8369. 

326. Deputies of the Grand Master are only the execu- 
tive agents of the Grand Officers they represent, with general 
supervisory power. They have no independent existence, have 
not been elected to office, and are not recognized as officers of 
any Grand Jurisdiction or of any Lodge. Their duties should 
be defined in the local law and in their commissions, and they 
cannot go beyond the powers so given. Persistent violations of 
law they must report to the Grand Master. Sov. 5282, 6208. 

327. Deputies of the Grand Master, and Past Grands 
deputed to install the officers of subordinates, are charged with 
a special duty, clearly prescribed by law, and are entitled to all 
the respect due to the officer whom they represent; but they 
have no authority to deprive a Lodge of its charter, nor any 
right to assume the rank of elective officers, and introduce 
strangers into a Lodge without card or password. When visiting 
Lodges to install or on other official business, D.D. Grand Mas- 
ters, as representatives of the Grand Master, are entitled to the 
same honors as are given that officer ; but a Past Grand who has 
been appointed by a Deputy to install officers in his place is not 
entitled to the honors of the Order when he appears for that pur- 
pose. Sov. 1840,4883, 6229. See also 4240, in Sec. 330, CI. 8. 

328. The duties of a Lodge Deputy Grand Master are 

these : 



72 ILLINOIS ODD-FELLOWS' CODE. 

Clause I . To act as the special agent and representative of the 
Grand Lodge in his own Lodge, and, under the general or 
special instructions of the Grand Master and Grand Secretary, 
to act as their agent in the Lodge, and to do and perform all 
matters relating to the Order given into his charge. In cases of 
doubt, he is to consult the Grand Master, or the Grand Secre- 
tary, if the business relates to the Grand Secretary's office. 

Clause 2. To see that the laws of the Sovereign Grand Lodge 
and of the Grand Lodge of Illinois are strictly observed, and to 
stay all proceedings in the Lodge which are illegal or irregular, 
or which afford ground for suspicion of error or fraud. 

Explication. — This means that any illegal or fraudulent acts 
of a Lodge or its officers may be stopped at any point in the 
proceedings ; this may be done when the action is about to be 
taken, or when it is partly effected and still incomplete, or when 
the object of the act is not yet effected, or when the act can be 
recalled ; and this stay of proceedings or reversal of action may 
take place whether the action of the Lodge be positive or nega- 
tive in form ; that is, whether it be a resolution to do an illegal 
act or a refusal to perform an imperative duty. The Deputy 
may stay proceedings orally, but must reduce his prohibition to 
writing immediately. The action of the Deputy in such case 
becorries a part of the transactions of the Lodge and must go 
upon its records, and the whole case must be sent at once to the 
Grand Master. 

Clause 3. To visit his Lodge at least once in each month and 
to see that the work of the Order is done correctly. 

Clause 4. To install the officers of his Lodge, or to cause 
them to be installed by a Past Grand, to whom the Deputy gives 
written authority. {Sees. 335, 338.) 

Clause 5. To give the Passwords to the Noble Grand and the 
Vice Grand only. (^Sec. 829.) 

Clause 6. To confer the Past-Official Degrees [Sec. 312) on 
qualified past officers, or to authorize it to be done by some com- 
petent Past Grand. [Sec. 314.) 

Clause 7. To keep a record or journal of all his official acts. 
[a) Of each application for a dispensation, stating whether the 
dispensation was granted, and if refused, why; {b) of the date 
of all installations, with names of officers installed; (r) of all 
decisions made by him; [d) of all other matters appertaining to 
his office. 



ILLINOIS ODD-FELLOWS' CODE. 73. 

Clause 8. To make, not later than four weeks before the an- 
nual session of the Grand Lodge, a report to the Grand Master 
of all his acts not previously reported. 

329. The following powers are confeixed upon a Lodge 
Deputy Grand Master : 

Clause I. To decide upon all questions presented him by his 
Lodge or its officers, and no others. A question of the Lodge 
must be by resolution, and in writing; the answer must be in . 
writing; or, if oral, it must be given in open Lodge and re- 
corded. A question presented by an officer must be in writing 
if possible; but if it arises during the meeting of a Lodge, and 
the Noble Grand thinks it should be answered without delay, 
the question maybe oral. The answer should be in writing; 
biit in emergency it may be oral : in either case it must go upon 
record, as the question is also to be recorded. 

Clause 2. Upon proper application and presentation to him 
of the duly attested record of proceedings, etc., in a case wherein 
an appeal is to be taken, the application and notice of appeal 
accompanying said record, the Lodge Deputy G.M. may sus- 
pend further action or proceedings in the case or under the 
decision against which appeal is taken, until the further, order 
of the Grand Master can be had. Such stay of proceedings 
must be in writing and entered on record. 

Explication. — Under this clause 2, a Lodge Deputy G.M, may 
arrest a sentence of fine, reprimand, suspension or expulsion 
until the Grand Master has examined and decided the appeal. 
He may suspend the payment of a sum of money from the 
treasury until an appeal respecting the payment has been decided 
{Sec. 803). He cannot, however, arrest a trial on any inciden- 
tal question : it must be conducted to its close and appealed on 
the final result [Sec. 791, CI. 3). 

Clause 3. He may grant dispensations as follows : {a) To allow 
a person to be proposed, reported upon, elected and initiated or 
admitted by deposit of card, on one and the same evening. 
(b') To permit a Lodge to elect a Third-Degree member to the 
office of %^oble Grand, if no Past Grand or Past Vice Grand, free 
from charges and in good standing, will accept it. [c) To allow 
his Lodge to join in the ordinary celebration of national festival 
days {Sees. 21 2-1 3-14). (See Forms in Appendix.) 

See in Sec. 849 another dispensation allowed by usage, not by positive 
law. 



74 ILLINOIS ODD-FELLOWS' CODE. 

330. Prohibitions control a Lodge Deputy Grand Master 
as follows : 

Clause I. He may not issue any other dispensations than those 
allowed in Sec. 329, CI. 3. 

Clause 2. He may not give any official decision upon a ques- 
tion or appeal, except as provided in Sec. 329, CI. i. 

Clause 3. He may not officially decide any question that may 
arise during the progress of a trial : at such time his position is 
the same as that of any other member. 

Clause 4. He may not set aside charges regularly and legally 
made, whether against himself or any other member of the 
Lodge. 

Clause 5. He may not set aside a ballot without assignment 
of legal reasons : thus only upon the ground of error or fraud. 

Clatise 6. He may not act as attorney for the defendant in* a 
trial ; and similarly, he should not, if avoidable, be one of a 
prosecuting committee. 

Clatise 7. He may not install officers unless they are dtily 
qualified according to law, which fact he must ascertain [Sec. 344 
and Chap. XH, generally, for the Lodge Deputy G.M.'s powers 
at mstallation). 

Clatise 8. He may not take the charter of his Lodge. He 
may not remove any officer of the Lodge for any cause. He 
may not interfere with the functions of any officers of the Lodge, 
nor take any officer's chair [Sov. 4240), nor usurp his place, nor 
interrupt his legal proceedings. 

Clause 9. He. may not assume the privileges of a Grand 
Officer and introduce visitors without card or password [Sov. 
1840.) 

Clatise 10. He may not receive compensation for official 
visits in his own town or city. 

331. The commission of a Deputy must be read in the 
Lodge on occasion of his first official visit thereto ; and the fact 
of such visit and reading must be entered on the records. 

332. Whenever the Deputy having charge of a Lodge has 
neglected his duty to the Lodge, the Lodge, after reasonable 
notice to the Deputy, may, by vote of two-thirds of the number 
present, address a complaint to the Grand Master, who may, in 
his discretion, declare the Deputy displaced ; whereupon the 
vacancy is to be filled according to law. 



ILLINOIS ODD-FELLOWS' CODE. 75 

333. The special Deputy appointed to institute a Lodge 
shall be the regular Deputy in charge thereof until some other 
Past Grand is appointed Deputy by the Grand Master. 



CHAPTER XII. 

Installations. 

334. Installation is the regular and formal induction into 
office. If the office is elective, an obhgation is part of the cere- 
mony; in appointive offices, there is only a placing and a charge. 
Installation is necessary to the holding of an office ; election and 
even assumption of the duties of an office do not make one a 
legal officer without installation; and no honors of office accrue 
to one not installed. 

335. The Grand Master must provide for installing officers 
o^ Lodges by himself or Deputy; but if at the regular time the 
Grand Master or his Deputy is not present and has not provided 
for installation at some other time, or by some deputed Past 
Grand, any Past Grand may perform the installation; but if all 
Past Grands are absent, the Noble Grand may perform the 
installation. Sov. gig, 1246. 

336. The obligations at installation can be administered 
by those only upon whom they have been conferred : no one can 
install in a Lodge but one who has taken the Noble Grand's 
obligation. Sov. 1085, 1246. 

337. A Grand Officer, or Deputy of the Grand Master, or a 
Lodge, may employ a member of a Lodge not within the juris- 
diction of the Grand Lodge of Illinois, but otherwise qualified, 
to officiate as installing ofiicer. But the Deputy for one Lodge 
cannot legally install the officers of another Lodge except by 
request of its Deputy. 

338. A Deputy may cause the installation to be performed 
l)y a Past Grand to whom he gives written authority, to be 
presented to the Lodge. If the installation is performed by a 
Past Grand not thus deputed, preference among the Past Grands 



76 ILLINOIS ODD-FELLOWS' CODE. 

present must be given to a Past Grand Officer, or by rank and 
seniority. 

339. In case of a vacancy occurring in any office after the 
regular period of installation, it is not necessary to procure special 
authority from the Grand Master or his Deputy to install a suc- 
cessor : that duty may be performed by the Noble Grand or a 
Past Grand. 

340. The elective officers shall be chosen at the first 
regular meetings in June and December. They shall be installed 
at the first regular meetings in January and July. But if a pub- 
lic installation is had, it may be at another time and in another 
hall in the vicinity of the regular place of meeting. 

Sub. Const., Art. V, Sec. 4. 

341. Installation is regularly held at the first regular 
meeting of a term {Sec. 340) ; but it may be held at any meeting, 
regular or special, legally called by the Noble Grand [Sec. 273), 
not earlier than the first regular meeting. 

342. The officers of Lodges must not be installed, nor 
furnished with the passwords, unless the reports and returns from 
such Lodges to their superior jurisdiction be actually made au^ 
placed in the hands of the proper officer, or be actually in transit 
to the proper destination, with the money due. Sov. 2643. 

343. The reports to the Grand Lodge must be accepted 
by the installing officer as sufficient, if the Lodge has accepted 
them. He must see that they have been duly recorded in the 
register [Sec. 1039) before he proceeds to install the officers. 

344. The installing officer must see that the brothers in- 
stalled as officers are duly qualified, namely : free from charges 
of misconduct (Ritual); free from dues, if elective officers 
Ritual); qualified in degrees [Sees. 244, 248) and by previous 
service [Sees. 249, 254), when these are required (Ritual); 
and that each officer has complied with the law [Sec. 271) 
as to acquaintance with the work and his charges. But in 
case of an election held in an emergency or to fill a vacancy 
occurring at the time of installation, the installing officer must 
not insist upon knowledge of the charges. 

345. If by mistake a Noble Grand or other officer that 
must by law have the Rebekah degree [Sec. 248) has been in- 
stalled without that degree, he must, upon discovery of the error, 



ILLINOIS ODD-FELLOWS' CODE. 77 

at once take the degree and be reinstalled, or else he forfeits 
the office, which must be declared vacant by the installing 
officer; and in such case a new officer must be chosen forthwith. 

346. The Noble Grand must give up his chair on demand 
of the installing officer, even if reelected, since he must be re- 
installed {^Sec. 231), An officer refusing to give up his station 
on such demand is liable to penalty. 

347. If an officer elect fails to appear for installation, or 
resigns during the installation, or refuses to retire or to return 
with the Grand Marshal, the installing officer will proceed 
according to the law of vSecs. 257, 258. 

348. The Lodge is in charge of the installing officer from 
the moment when he directs the vacation of the chairs till the 
Grand Marshal's final proclamation. During this time the 
Noble Grand has no right to put a question to the Lodge, or to 
interfere with the proceedings of the installing officer ; to do so 
is insubordination. That officer takes the Noble Grand's chair. 

Sov. 2403, 4240, 4843, Ritual. 

349. Officers elect, having been examined in the ante-room, 
do not address the Chairs when they enter for installation. 

Sov. 4992. 

350. If a Treasurer elect is presented for installation 
before his bond has been legally executed and approved, the 
installing officer may cause the bond to be perfected and ap- 
proved forthwith, or may postpone the installation, or may 
declare the office vacant and hold a new election immediately. 

351. In case of objection interposed during installation, 
the installing officer proceeds as directed in the Ritual ; but a 
qualified and duly elected brother is to be installed, unless charges 
are preferred, though some one or more say they are not 
content. [An appeal taken on the eligibility of an officer does 
not arrest an installation: that goes on. — Sov. 5282.] In case 
of doubt as to eligibility, the Lodge must furnish the facts of 
record to the installing officer. 

352. When a Deputy has refused to install a brother said 
to have been elected, because he finds jreason to doubt the 
legality of the election, the Lodge may not call another Past 
Grand to install the rejected brother; and any installation so 
held is illegal and void. Sov. 6351. 



78 ILLINOIS ODD-FELLOWS' CODE. 

353. No dispensation may be granted by the installing 
officer, unless he is the Grand Master or Lodge Deputy G.M. 
He must limit himself to the definite duties of the installation. 
He may take a vote of the Lodge on any question incidental to 
the installation, as the election of an officer, the approval of a 
bond, etc. 

354. No installing officer is entitled to compensation for 
installing in his own Lodge or town. 

355. Proxy installation is not legal in Odd-Fellowship. 

Sov. 4240. 

356. The forms and ceremonies for the Public Installa- 
tion of Officers, as prepared by the Sovereign Grand Lodge 
{^Sov. 2971), are accepted and adopted by the Grand Lodge of 
Illinois ; and the subordinates of this jurisdicdon are authorized, 
at their option, to make public all installations of officers in their 
several Lodges, in strict conformity with * the requirements of 
such forms and ceremonies. The Grand Lodge of Illinois 
suggests to Lodges to hold their January installation in public, as 
a means of influence beneficial to the Order. 

357. The ceremony of public installation must be 
conducted by an elective Grand Officer, or by a Deputy of the 
Grand Master ; and if any controversy arise between an elective 
Grand Officer and a District Deputy Grand Master as to which 
shall conduct such installation, the elective Grand Officer, being 
superior in rank, must have precedence. Sov. 2971, 3031. 

358. Public installations should be held in the Lodge 
room, on the first regular meeting night of the term ; but may be 
held in another hall in the immediate vicinity, and at another 
time, if thought advisable by the Lodge. 

359. A Lodge should not "close in regular form " before 
a public installation, but " the ordinary ceremonies being sus- 
pended," the doors are opened and the installation proceeds. 
After its completion, the Grand Officers retire ; and then, all but 
members of the Order being excluded, the Lodge closes in form. 
If the installation takes place at a room other than the Lodge 
room, the Noble Grand should declare a recess ; the Lodge 
should then proceed .to the hall in which the ceremony is to take 
place ; after the close of which the Lodge should return to its 
Lodge room and close in form. (See Form of Public Installa- 
tion). If, however, a Lodge should close before installation, 



ILLINOIS ODD-FELLOWS' CODE. 79 

and then the Grand Master should proceed and install the offi- 
cers, such installation, though irregtdar, would not be void, and 
the installed officers ^yould be the legal officers of the Lodge. 

Sov. 6963. 

3f6o. A special blank for report of installation shall be 

furnished to each Lodge by the Grand Secretary. The blank 

must be in the Lodge room at installation, and must be forthwith 

filled and mailed to the Grand Secretary. 



CHAPTER XIII. 

Membership: including Qualifications, Course of Action on 
Propositions, Ballots, Initiations and Admissions. 

361. Membership is acquired primarily by initiation into a 
Lodge ; and membership in good standing in a Subordinate 
Lodge in good standing is a prerequisite for membership in any 
Encampment or Grand Body. Good standing [Sec, 1 108) de- 
notes freedom from pending charges and from disability arising 
from indebtedness to the Lodge. Membership in the Order and 
in a Lodge is totally lost by expulsion, or by resignation of it. 
Membership in a Lodge is lost by taking a withdrawal card or a 
dismissal certificate [Sec. 756), and ceases as soon as the card 
is voted by the Lodge or the certificate is issued; but taking 
such card does not end membership in the Order until one year 
from its date ; during that period the holder of a card (but not of 
a certificate) has a quasi membership, by virtue of which he is 
considered in good standing, can visit Lodges, join in formation 
of a new Lodge, or renew active membership by deposit of the 
card ; and he is responsible for good conduct. 

Sov. 497, 811, 1722, 1734, 2561; U.S. Dig. of\%\^,p. 52. 

A person who has resigned membership is recognized as bearing some 
relationship to the Order ; so is one who has suffered his withdrawal card to 
expire without renewing membership : such persons are called Ancient Odd- 
Fellows, and are thus recognized as Odd-Fellows in some sense {Sec. 392). But 
one who has been expelled is not a "' non-affiliated" or quasi member, or a 
member in any sense {Sov. 6274-5). 

The term ''non-affiliated" is one recently introduced into Odd-Fellow- 
ship, having been previously used by another Order. It first occurs in our 
laws {Sec. 364) in 1870, meaning the holder of a withdrawal card or one 
dropped or suspended for non-payment of dues. 



80 ILLINOIS ODD-FELLOWS' CODE. 

362. Honorary membership is not allowed in this Order ; 
the initiation of persons as non-beneficial members is forbidden : 
nor can a person hold menibership at the same time in two 
Subordinate Lodges or in two Grand Lodges, even though one of 
the two is defunct : the brother must obtain discharge from the 
defunct Lodge by a card [Sec. 1065) before joining another. A 
suspended or dropped person cannot join another Lodge [Sec. 
363) : his suspension or dropping must be teiTninated in legal 
manner {Sees. 756, 776-7-8-9, 816). Sov. 81 1, 4916, 285, 1502. 

363. A member of the Order suspended or expelled from 
a Lodge or Encampment in any jurisdiction or sovereignty 
shall not be admitted to membership in a Lodge or Encamp- 
ment in another jurisdiction or sovereignty, without the previ- 
ously-obtained consent of the Lodge or Encampment from 
which he is suspended or expelled : Provided^ however, that 
members suspended or dropped for the non-payment of dues 
only may be admitted to membership in another jurisdiction or 
sovereignty upon such conditions and under such rules and 
regulations as this Grand Lodge may have prescribed, or may 
at any time adopt. Sov. Const., Art. xvi, Sec. 4. 

364. Non-affiliated Odd-Fellows who have been regu- 
larly initiated in the Order, and have retained membership 
therein for at least five consecutive years, and who, at the time of 
making application for reinstatement or membership, shall be 
over fifty years of age, and who are not expelled for cause, may 
be admitted to membership in any Lodge as non-beneficial mem- 
bers, upon such terms as the local law may prescribe [Sees. 425 
to 428). No person may be initiated upon an agreement not to 
claim benefits : such agreement is void ; and the brother's right 
to benefits is the same as if no such agreement had been made. 

Sov. 4884, 7856, 6985, 4916. 

365. No person is eligible to membership in any Subordi- 
nate Lodge except he be a free white male [Sec. 367), of good 
moral character [Sec. 368), of the age of twenty-one years, and 
a believer in a Supreme Being, the Greater and Preserver of the 
Universe. A candidate may not be refused for any religious 
belief, even if called an infidel, if he be not an atheist. No 
ultimate age is set by the general laws as a disqualification 
for membership, nor is any dispensation required for admission 
of persons over forty-five. The word candidate means one 



ILLINOIS ODD-FELLOWS' CODE. 81 

proposed for membership either by initiation or on evidence of 
former membership. 

Sov. Const., A7't. xvi, Sec. 2 ; Sov. 1246, 1503, 2131, 4158. 
In Australia, New Zealand, and other countries not on the continent of 
North America, the qualification as to age is left to the local legislation of 
Grand Lodges. — Sov. 5169. 

366. The Sovereign Grand Lodge having decided by its 
constitution the necessary qualifications for membership in the 
Order, no Grand Body has the right to change the same. Enact- 
ments or by-laws that a person over a certain age shall not be 
proposed for membership, or that a person twice rejected shall 
not be proposed, are illegal restrictions or additions to the quali- 
fications prescribed by the Sovereign Grand Lodge. 

Sov. 4070, 5524, 5836. 

It follows from this law that no by-law may be passed on the age of can- 
didates for initiation ; and that no dispensation is required for the admission 
of persons over forty-five years of age; such dispensation was a custom now 
long obsolete. 

367. The term " free white males " in Sec. 365 excludes 
all who are not of the Caucasian race ; thus not only Negroes, 
but Indians, Half-breeds, Chinese, and Polynesians. 

Sov. 1082, iioi, J400, 1502, 2952, 7365. 

368. A good moral character is a required qualification for 
membership in the Order : what constitutes such character is left 
to local action, and is generally to be determined by the vote of 
a Lodge in the reception of a member. Questions as to the 
morality of various occupations the S.G.L. has always refused to 
consider. Sov. 6197. 

369. Persons who are so blind as not to be able to dis- 
tinguish persons and things, or who are deaf or dumb, are, 
irrespective of financial condition, not admissible into the Order 
by initiation, as they are incapable of reciprocating the means of 
recognition, etc. Sov. 1470, 8532-3. 

370. The eligibility to membership by initiation of per- 
sons who have lost a limb is referred to the jurisdiction and 
disposal of the subordinates to which admission is asked. 

Sov. 4385. 

Under the principle of Sec. 369, it was decided in 1S64 that any physical 
deformity having the effect therein named is a disqualification for admission 
by initiation (^S^^e'. 3621) ; then in 1867 it was specified {Sov. \o']o) that the 
loss of an arm is a disqualification. The history and reason of the rules 



82 ILLINOIS ODD-FELLOWS' CODE. 

were reviewed in 1868, and Sec. 370 was then adopted. In Illinois, in 1858, 
the following case and action occurred : An elected candidate, prior to time 
for initiation, lost a large part of one hand. In this case the Grand Master 
decided that if the applicant was not so disabled as to prevent his wsAx^^soiiie 
of the means by which we make ourselves known to each other, provided 
his occupation be such that he could earn a livelihood for himself, the Lodge 
could, and good faith required that it should, proceed with his initiation, 
notwithstanding its abstract right to refuse. In 1867, the prohibition of 
initiation of a person who had lost an arm was made by decision of the 
Grand Master, and approved. But the rule of Sec. 370 supersedes this deci- 
sion of 1867. The question whether an injury or defect shall prevent admis- 
sion to membership is to be settled by the Lodge under the principle of the 
decision of 1858, given in this note. The two questions are : (i) Can the 
man use the signs, etc., of the Order? (2) Is his occupation such that he 
can earn a livelihood despite the defect ? 

371. The members of the I.O.O.F. may unite with any 
lawjful society or association whatsoever, without severing their 
connection with the Order. Sov. 8078. 

After the separation of the I.O.O.F. from the Manchester Unity of Odd- 
Fellows, a person having membership in the M.U.O.F. was obliged to with- 
draw from it if he wished to join the I.O.O.F.; and if a member of the 
I.O.O.F. joined the M.U.O.F., he was expelled. In 1863 it was decided 
that members joining the M.U. or any other organization of Odd-Fellows by 
so doing violated their duty to this Order ; but at the same session it was 
enacted that members of the M.U. might join the I.O.O.F. without severing 
the prior membership. This did not, however, authorize members of the 
I.O.O.F. to join the M.U. The subject coming up again in 1879, ^^ 1^^ 
of Sec. 371 was adopted, treating the M.U. as being as independent as a 
Masonic or Pythian organization. 

See Sov. 1070, 1074, 3513, 3592, and references given in the Index. 

372. A candidate for membership by initiation shall be a 
believer in a Supreme Being, Creator, Preserver and Governor 
of all things. He shall not be under twenty-one years of age. 
He shall be a white male person, of good moral character and 
industrious habits, having some respectable known means of 
support, and exempt from all infirmities which may prevent 
his gaining a livelihood. He shall have resided within the 
jurisdiction of this Lodge at least six months previous to his 
application for membership, or have been so long personally 
known to brothers of the Order, who recommend him. 

Stib. Const. ^ Art. ii, Sec. I. 
No Lodge shall receive a proposition for membership from or 
initiate any person not twenty-one years of age. 

///. Const., Art. viii, Sec. 4. 

373. No Subordinate Lodge in this state shall,, under 
penalty of the forfeiture of the initiation or admission fee to the 
Lodge injured, admit to membership, either by initiation or 



ILLINOIS ODD-FELLOWS' CODE. 83 

deposit of card, any person residing nearer another Lodge 
working in the same language, without the consent of such 
Lodge having been first obtained : Provided, that in a city or 
village in which there are two or more Lodges, they shall have 
concurrent jurisdiction. G. L. By-Lazos, Art. ii. Sec. ii. 

Observe, forfeiture of degree fees is not required, unless the injured 
Lodge is in another jurisdiction {Sec. 374). 

Case. — From a territory over which several Lodges have concurrent 
jurisdiction, a man joins a Lodge outside that jurisdiction: to which of the 
several Lodges shall the fee be paid, as required by Sec. 373? Decided, 
To the oldest of the several Lodges : but if that one had given consent, then 
to the next in seniority that had not given consent. There are two Lodges, 
A and B, adjacent : A charges ^10 initiation fee, and B $5. If A admits 
an initiate from the jurisdiction of B, it pays B ^10 : if B initiates one from 
A's jurisdiction, it pays $5. 

374. No person residing in one jurisdiction caii be ad- 
mitted into a Lodge or Encampment in another jurisdiction, 
either by initiation or by card, unless consent first be had in full 
form from the Grand Master or Grand Lodge of the jurisdiction 
in which he resides : upon such consent he may be admitted. 
[Exception in Sec. 380.] Any subordinate violating this law 
must, upon conviction before its own Grand Body, pay to the 
Grand Body of the jurisdiction in which the applicant resides 
all admission and degree fees previously received. And when 
legally admitted, the member's rights and privileges are the 
same as if his membership and residence were in the same 
jurisdiction. 

Sov. Const., Art. xvi, Sec. 3 ; Sov. 2560, 2672, 281 7. (See Sec. 62.) 

375. The legal qualification of residence may not be dis- 
pensed with by dispensation of a Deputy of the Grand Master. 
The question where an applicant for membership resides is to be 
determined by such considerations as prevail in ordinary business 
or social relations ; as, the place of employment, the having of 
one's chattels, and, in case of a married man, the habitation of 
his family ; and the absence of evidence of intention to go else- 
where for a home. A temporary residence of one whose home 
is under a foreign power or in another jurisdiction will not 
warrant his admission. Sov. 1280, 1840, 2482. 

376. In computing distance, Lodges should take into 
consideration all the facts as to convenience of travel, business, 
voting precincts, and other concomitant circum.stances, thus in 
some cases making the remote Lodge the nearest for the appli- 



84 ILLINOIS ODD-FELLOIVS' CODE. 

cant. But if a candidate moves out of the jurisdiction of a 
Lodge while his proposition or application is pending therein, 
he is no longer eligible. 

377. A person who is in the military service of the United 
States as an enlisted soldier, having his temporary residence in a 
military garrison, cannot, since he lacks legal residence, be 
admitted to membership by initiation : Provided, however, that 
he may be admitted under the provisions of the constitution of 
the S.G.L., Art. xvi. Sec. 3 {Sec. 374); or if his temporary 
residence should become a permanent one. Sov. 8701, 8801: 

378. A petitioner for membership is not obliged to join a 
Lodge working in his native tongue ; but if he asks for initiation 
he must be acquainted with the language used in the Lodge to 
which he applies, well enough to understand the obligations and 
work. If a person who desires to join a Lodge by initiation or 
otherwise cannot sufficiently understand the language of the 
Lodge nearest him, he may petition a remoter one. Such remoter 
Lodge may certify to the Grand Master that the petitioner can- 
not work in the language of the nearest Lodge and ask leave to 
admit him. This request the Grand Master may by dispensation 
grant ; otherwise such petitioner must join the nearest Lodge, or 
get its consent to his going elsewhere. 

379. A Grand Lodge has no right to require a residence for 
any definite period before a brother can deposit a withdrawal 
card from a sister jurisdiction. Sov. 4070. 

380. A Lodge in an adjoining state may admit, by initiation 
or card, a resident of Illinois who lives nearer to such Lodge 
than to any Lodge in Illinois : Provided, said adjoining jurisdic- 
tion has a law giving reciprocal privileges to Lodges in this 
state. [The Grand Encampment of Illinois has a similar law. 
The G.L. and G.E. of Wisconsin have passed reciprocal laws. 
The G.L. but not the G.E. of Indiana has likewise reciprocated. 
The other adjacent states of Iowa, Missouri and Kentucky have 
not at this time, June 1882, any such reciprocal law^] {^Sec. 62.) 

381. A Candidate for membership by deposit of card shall 
be in possession of an unexpired withdrawal card and the A.T. 
P.W. {Sec. 384). He shall also be a resident within the juris- 
diction of this Lodge at the time of making the application. 

Sub. Const., Art. ii. Sec. 2. 
Bro. J. H. R. presented a withdrawal.card, with application for member- 



ILLINOIS Or>D-FL:LLOlVS' CODE. S5 

ship, four days before the expiration thereof. The card, being informal, was 
returned to him for correction. Proper corrections having been made, the 
card was agahi presented by the applicant, but in the meantime had run - 
out of date. 

Decided, If the petition and card were presented while the withdrawal 
card was in date, and it was merely returned for corrections, without any 
further action on part of the Lodge, and such card was returned properly 
corrected, under such petition, then he must be admitted as by card in date ; 
but if a new petition is presented the second time, then as an Ancient Odd- 
Fellow. 

382. A Lodge is not obliged to admit to membership an 
applicant by card : his application is judged of by the Lodge, 
and decided upon by ballot. A withdrawal card may be received 
with application for membership even if the Lodge granting it 
has become defunct, or been suspended or expelled, since issue 
of it. A card from the Manchester Unity or from any other 
Order does not entitle its holder to recognition and admission. 
Nor does the card of one branch of the Order (Lodge or 
Encampment) authorize admission into the other. 

Sov. 678, 1074, 1 150, 1470. 

383. A member may not take a withdrawal card from his 
own Lodge near which he resides, and expects to continue to 
reside, and deposit it in another and remote Lodge, except for 
the purpose of organizing a new Lodge. 

384. The Noble Grand must examine an applicant for 
admission by card, unless he has been previously examined by 
a committee, and see that he is in possession of the A.T.P.W., 
which is essential : he can be admitted only as an Ancient 
Odd-Fellow if without it. Sov. 2147, 3479. 

The law upon this matter has varied : in 1853 ^^ S.GL. decided that 
possession of the A.T.P.W. is not essential: in 1861, interpreting its By- 
Laws, Art. xiv, it decided that the by-law refers only to depositing a card 
for visiting purposes, and that the P.W. is not essential for obtaining mem- 
bership : in 1862 it decided that the by-law clearl^^ indicates that a brother 
should be in possession of the A.T.P.W. to acquire membership. See its 
Journal, 2147, 3354^ 3479? ^^d the by-law xiv. The last decision is taken 
as the law above. 

385. A brother applying for admission by card must answer 
all questions asked him by the investigating committee of the 
Lodge as to his state of health or bodily defects. 

386. When a person who has taken a withdrawal card 
wishes to rejoin the Lodge from which he drew it, he must apply 
in the regular way, just as if he were a stranger; and the Lodge 
cannot vary from the usual course of proceeding. Sov. 3182. 



86 ILLINOIS ODD-FELLOWS' CODE. 

387. Any member of this Order who has been a contribut- 
ing member twenty-five years, upon change of residence, shall 
have the privilege of applying for membership in any Lodge at 
his new place of residence, without first applying for a with- 
drawal card from the Lodge in which he holds membership. 
Upon election of such brother by the Lodge to which he shall 
apply for membership, said Lodge shall notify the Lodge of 
which he is a member, of such election, when being free from all 
charges and payment of all dues and fees, upon proper applica- 
tion he shall be entitled to a withdrawal card. Upon deposit of 
said card with the Lodge in which he had been elected, he shall 
be entitled to sign the constitution and be received in full mem- 
bership from such time, upon the payment of the admission fees 
required by the By-Laws of said Lodge. Sov. 8478. 

388. Persons claiming to have been members of the Order, 
but who are unable to establish satisfactorily (^Sec. 390) their 
claims, can be readmitted by initiation only. Any such person 
is required to set forth in his petition for membership that he has 
never been suspended or expelled from any Lodge, and that he 
is unable to obtain" evidence of his former connection with the 
Order. Sov. 1921, 1956, 1992. 

389. One who is reinitiated under Sec. 388 must proceed 
in degrees and honors as if he had never been or claimed to 
have been an Odd-Fellow. 

390. Satisfactory evidence of former connection with 
the Order, within the meaning of the law, must come from the 
Lodge of which the brother was formerly a member, or, in the 
event of such evidence being inaccessible by reason of its being 
defunct or otherwise, then from the Grand Body under whose 
jurisdiction the subordinate existed. And should neither of 
these be accessible or obtainable, then such evidence shall be 
regulated for each of the State Grand Jurisdictions by the Grand 
Bodies thereof. Should the applicant fail to meet these require- 
ments, he may then make petition for admission into the Order 
by initiation. {^Secs. ^%%, 392). Sov. 3968. 

391. A candidate for membership as an ancient Odd- 
Fellow shall have an expired withdrawal card, a dismissal 
certificate, or other satisfactory evidence of having legally' ter- 
minated his membership ; and he shall be a resident as provided 
in Sec. 2 of this article. {^Sec. 381.) Sub. Const., Art. it, Sec. 3. 



ILLINOIS ODD-FELLOWS' CODE. 87 

392. An Ancient Odd-Fellow is one who has been regu- 
larly initiated into the Order and retired therefrom in good 
standing, either by taking his permanent or withdrawal card, or 
by resignation. If he retired by resignation, he at once became 
an Ancient Odd-Fellow ; and if by taking a permanent card, he 
became so at the expiration of one year from the date of his 
card. An Ancient Odd-Fellow holding his card may be allowed 
to renew his membership by the deposit of said card in a Lodge 
at the place of his residence, subject to the payment of such fee 
as the local law may require. If he has not his card, or with- 
drew by resignation, he may be admitted as an Ancient Odd- 
Fellow on passing a thorough and satisfactory examination in 
the work, and takes whatever rank he proves himself to have 
had. An Ancient Odd-Fellow is not to be reinitiated, if able to 
prove himself such. The Lodge, on report of the examining 
committee, will determine his rank and standing. 

Sov. 1841, 1921, 1992, 2859, 3621. 

The holder of a Dismissal Certificate is in the same position as the holder 
of an expired withdrawal card, and ranks as an Ancient Odd-Fellow. The 
S.G.L. recognizes him as substantially an A.O.F., when it says {Sov. 7174) 
that to regain membership he must pursue the same course as that prescribed 
for an Ancient Odd-Fellow. But the S.G.L. refused (6614) to extend the 
meaning of the term A.O.F. to include the holder of a dismissal certificate. 

393. Former members of a revived Lodge, in good 
standing at the time of defunction, if not included in the revival, 
may recover membership in such manner as the local law pre- 
scribes. (See next section.) Sov. 5481. 

394. When the charter of a Lodge has been surrendered, 
and restored, the revived Lodge may admit to membership any 
persons who were or had been in membership at the time of its 
dissolution, as follows : 

First. — If they were in good standing at the time of dissolu- 
tion, the Lodge may admit them as Ancient Odd-Fellows, upon 
the payment of such fee as in each case may be determined by 
the Lodge. 

Second. — If they were not in good standing by reason of non- 
payment, or of dropping, suspension or expulsion therefor, the 
Lodge may restore them to good standing on the same terms as 
the laws provide for others in like disability. 

Third. — If they had lost their good standing by suspension or 
expulsion for other causes, the Lodge may refer the case to the 



88 ILLINOIS ODD-FELLOWS' CODE. 

Grand Master, as in case of other applications for reinstate- 
ment. 

Case. — C was dropped for N.P.D. His Lodge became defunct ; then 
its charter was restored to some of the members. C then sent ^i to the 
Lodge for a dismissal certificate ; the Lodge told him to apply to the Grand 
Secretary. 

Decided, The Lodge erred in refusing to grant the dismissal certificate. 
The Grand Secretary would have been the proper officer to issue during the 
time the Lodge was defunct ; but when the charter was restored, and the 
Lodge went to work, the position of C was that of a dropped member; and 
the Lodge was the proper authority to issue the dismissal certificate. 

395. A member of an extinct Lodge who did not regu- 
larly withdraw therefrom prior to its extinction can be admitted 
to membership only upon the presentation of a card iySecs, 756, 
509) from the officers of the Grand Lodge under which the 
defunct T edge formerly existed. A brother who has been 
expelled from a I^odge which subsequently became extinct, can 
regain 1 icmb':rship in the Order only through the Grand Lodge 
to which the Lodge that expelled him was subordinate. 

Sov. 3621,3823, 3350, 3474. 

39 J. A proposition for membership shall be offered by a 
mer./ncr of the Lodge, in writing, at a regular meeting of, the 
Lodge, with the fee, and with good reference. It shall give the 
name, age, residence and business of the person proposed, and 
shall show M^hether the proposition is asked for admission by 
initiation, by card, for non-beneficial membership, or as an 
Ancient Odd-Fellow. The proposition shall be entered in sub- 
stance on the record, and referred to a special committee of 
three for investigation, who shall report^ at the first or second 
regular meeting thereafter, unless further time be given ; when, 
unless the report be recommitted, the ballot shall be held on the 
proposition. Sith. Const. ^ Art. ii, Sec. 5. 

397. The word " fee " in Sec. 396 means the full amount of 
the initiation or admission fee. A proposition becomes the 
property of the Lodge as soon as it is in the hands of the Secre- 
tary; no vote to receive it is necessary. The name of a man 
and his character may not be brought up and discussed before 
he is regularly proposed. 

398. A proposition for membership may be withdrawn 
without the consent of the Lodge, at any time before the com- 
mittee shall have reported thereon, but not subsequently. {Sec. 

987.) 

[This is also S.G.L. law, which provides further that after a 



ILLINOIS ODD-FELLOIVS' CODE. 89 

report on a proposition has been presented, the proposition may 
not be withdrawn, even if the Lodge consents, or if the report 
be recommitted. — Sov. 1156, 5920.] • 

The admission fee shall be returned if the application is 
refused or withdrawn ; but if the candidate shall be elected and 
fail to appear for admission within six weeks (except for cause 
adjudged sufficient), the election shall be void, and the deposit 
forfeited to the Lodge. Sub. Const., Art. ii, Sec. 7. 

399. If a proposition has been withdrawn, it cannot be 
reinstated to occupy the same place in the proceeding ; it can 
come in again only by being again presented and taking the 
regular course. 

400. An election to membership on a card sent in without 
petition or fee is informal and invalid, an entire nullity; no 
committee should be appointed on such verbal application. But 
if a member is admitted and consummates membership by sign- 
ing the constitution, his membership is valid, despite the infor- 
mality. {Sec. 415.) 

401. An Investigating Committee on a proposition 

must be a special committee, never a standing one : the members 
must make such investigation as is necessary to enable them to 
report properly on the qualifications of the candidate. The 
N.G. must not be a member of it. They cannot report until the 
next regular meeting after appointment, unless under special 
dispensation [Sec. 329, CI. 3), for the purpose of initiating on the 
same evening. A majority of the committee is necessary to 
make a report ; and if a part or all of the original committee is 
displaced for failing to report, and new members are appointed, 
they cannot report until one week after the appointment of a 
majority, except under dispensation. 

402. It is not proper to ballot collectively on two or 
more applications. Each member has a right to deposit his 
ballot upon each individual application.. [Sec. 852.) Sov. 2700. 

403. A Lodge must ballot on every proposition for mem- 
bership upon which a report, favorable or unfavorable, is 
presented. Sov. 3836. 

404. No person can be either elected or rejected unless by 
ballot in due form. 



90 ILLINOIS ODD-FELLOWS' CODE, 

405. The ballot having been held, as required by law 
[Sec. 396), the box shall be passed by the Warden to the Vice 
Grand, who shall examine the ballot ; the Warden shall then 
pass the box to the Noble Grand, who shall inspect the ballot and 
announce the result, merely stating that the candidate is elected 
or rejected. If not more than two black balls appear, the candi- 
date shall be elected, but if three or more appear he shall be 
rejected. ' Sub. Const., Art. ii, Sec. 6. 

406. A Grand Lodge may authorize its subordinates to 
enact By-Laws providing that the V.G., or other officer, may 
assist the N.G. in the examination of the ballot on an applica- 
tion for membership, and make known the result of his examina- 
tion to the Lodge or the N.G., the N.G. alone having the 
prerogative of deciding whether the candidate is elected or 
rejected. Sov. 6236. 

Usage in Illinois associates the Right Supporter with the N.G. in the 
inspection of a ballot; but this is by courtesy only. 

407. A brother may not, at pleasure, conceal or expose his 
ballot : he must keep it secret. It is an offense to endeavor to 
discover how a brother has voted so as to bring odium upon him : 
to permit a showing of votes would reach this result indirectly, 
and is forbidden. Hence local law may not provide that a 
brother casting a single black ball in a ballot shall state his 
objections in private to the Noble Grand. Sov. 5194, 3836. 

408. The Sovereign Grand Lodge has made no law, 
except for its own immediate subordinates, as to how many black 
balls reject a candidate; that matter is left to state jurisdictions; 
but when the number of balls required by local law for a rejec- 
tion are cast, it is not lawful to refer the application for further 
investigation or to hold a new ballot. A Lodge cannot compel 
the N.G. to give the number of black balls cast, when an 
applicant is rejected. Sov. 5279, 55 19,- 6202. 

409. Clause I. When a ballot is had, if the N.G. has any 
reason to suspect error gr mistake, he may, before declaring the 
result, state that he fears there is error, and order the vote taken 
again for surety ; but when the result is once declared, the ballot 
may not be again held (except as provided for in Sec. 41 1) unless 
error or fraud be charged on the ballot. 

Clause 2. In case error or fraud is charged on the ballot on a 
proposition for membership, the ballot may be declared void and 



ILLINOIS ODD- FELLOWS' CODE. 91 

a new ballot ordered by vote of the Lodge, if no member 
entitled to vote has left the room since the first ballot was taken ; 
otherwise, the ballot being declared void, the proposition shall 
be recommitted to an investigating committee and await their 
report at a subsequent meeting. [This accords wnth Sov. 7854.] 

410. It is competent for a majority of a Subordinate Lodge, 
but not for an officer alone, to order a new ballot when an elec- 
tion is either fraudulent or illegal; but where the election is 
favorable, such order must be made previous to the applicant's 
initiation. The ordering of the new ballot in such case neces- 
sarily involves the abrogation of the former ballot. But a ballot 
by which a candidate was rejected cannot be declared void on 
account of errors committed by ses^eral brothers in voting (com- 
pare Sec. 413). Sov. 2146, 5193, 8078. 

411. Where all the brothers who may cast black balls 
against an applicant for membership voluntarily make a motion 
for a reconsideration of the ballot, the same may be reconsidered ; 
and in such case the vote on the reconsideration shall be taken by 
ball ballots, and if all the balls cast be in favor of it, the recon- 
sideration shall be had ; whereupon the application shall lie over 
till. the succeeding meeting, when another ballot shall be had 
with ball ballots, and if the same be unanimously in favor of the 
applicant, he shall thereby be elected ; but if one or more black 
balls appear in either ballot, the applicant shall be rejected ; and 
in no case shall a reconsideration be had except upon the volun- 
tary motion of all those who cast the black balls; and never 
more than one reconsideration in the same case shall be allowed; 
and the reconsideration must be had within the four meeting 
nights next succeeding the rejection. A Grand Lodge may not 
allow further ballot or reconsideration. 

Sov. 2773, 2792, 4365, 4070. 

Prior to 1857, the law of the S.G.L. was that '* a ballot cannot under any 
circumstances be reconsidered, but must stand as a final judment," except as 
set aside for fraud. Sov. 1886, 2403. 

412. In all cases where a candidate for membership has 
been elected, but subsequent to his election and prior to his 
initiation the Lodge shall become satisfied that he is unworthy, it 
is competent for the Lodge to annul such election, and declare 
it void, by a majority of two-thirds of the members present. 
(See Sec. 410 for law of annulment in some cases by majority 
vote). Sov. 2310, 2346. 



92 ILLINOIS ODD-FELLOWS' CODE, 

413. When a balloting has been declared null and void, 
the proposition, together with the report thereon of the Commit- 
tee of Investigation, and the action of the Lodge receiving such 
report and ordering a balloting, are before the Lodge, and noth- 
ing remains to be done except to ballot anew. Sov. 2808. 

414. Under the law of Sec. 412, the Lodge may annul the 
election of one who is found to be affected with disease so as to 
be a burden to the Lodge; or of one who, after election, is 
disabled by accident so as to become incapacitated for business, 
or unsuitable by loss of sight, hearing, speech, limb or member 
[Sees. 369, 370). The initiation can be postponed from time to 
time, at discretion, and finally annulled. 

415. If an eligible or even an unworthy candidate be ille- 
gally elected to membership and illegally initiated through fault 
of the Lodge, such illegality does not invalidate the election or 
initiation. Making the initiation void would release the initiate 
from his obligation of secrecy. The same rule governs illegal 
or irregular admission by card, and the initiation of one who is 
under age. If an applicant has been guilty of fraud, he can be 
punished, even expelled. Any initiation made by a suspended 
or expelled Lodge, however, is null and void, and cannot be 
healed by an act of a Grand Lodge. 

Sov. 1391, 2146, 3234, 7465, 7509. 

416. When a candidate presents himself for admission 
upon notice that he has been elected, he cannot be examined as 
to his health, or in any other way than as is prescribed in the 
Ritual, except that a member elected upon card should be 
examined in the A.T.P.W. according to Sec. 384. Sov. 2146-7. 

No part of the initiatory ceremony should be omitted; nor 
may any addition or variation be made. 

417. A person is not a member by virtue of his election 
merely; initiation, or introduction by the committee, and signing 
the constitution, and pledge to support the constitution and laws, 
are necessary to consummate membership. If the candidate 
cannot sign his name, he must make his mark and have it wit- 
nessed. A person admitted but failing to sign the constitution, 
yet acting for some considerable tivie as a 7nemher, must be con- 
sidered a member; if dropped, he cannot claim his payments 
back, and to regain membership must be reinstated regularly. 



ILLINOIS ODD-FELLOIVS' CODE. 93 

418. No ceremony of introduction on admission by card 
has been prescribed ; but the member should be introduced by a 
committee. 

See Appendix for convenient form. 

419. When a brother applies for membership on deposit 
of card, and is elected and signs the constitution, his card should 
remain in the Lodge. So, also, if the local law date member- 
ship from the time of the applicant's election^ the card should 
then remain in the Lodge after election ; and the applicant can- 
not demand its return, whether he signs the constitution or not. 
But if the local law date membership from the time of signing 
the constitution, the brother elect who fails to appear and sign 
the same may demand the return of his card, because until he 
signs the constitution he is not a member of the Lodge ; except 
in cases when the Lodge neglects its own law about signature, 
and receives the brother as a member, and he attends and acts as 
a member, thus creating a virtual membership {Sec. 417). 

Soz\ 4860, 7464-5. 

420. All initiations must take place in the Lodge into 
which the candidate is elected : he cannot, even upon the 
request of the electing Lodge, be initiated in any other. 

Sov. 3739. 

421. The Lodge, and not the N.G., has the power of deter- 
mining the time of an initiation, and can postpone it at pleasure ; 
and should anything occur after the ballot, and before the initia- 
tion, which can operate as a reason Avhy the applicant should not 
be admitted, the initiation need not take place. But this power 
of a Lodge is not to be used arbitrarily nor with a view of alto- 
gether preventing the initiation, except when the election is 
annulled, as provided in Sec. 412. 

422. Candidates can always be initiated upon the night 
of their election. An initiation may take place at a special 
meeting which was called at a regular one. 

423. The initiation of a candidate is complete (finished) 
only when he has been introduced to the Lodge. Sov. 4992. 

424. When a candidate for membership by initiation has 
been rejected, notice thereof shall be sent without delay to all 
Lodges in the same place; and he cannot be again proposed in 
any Lodge until six months have elapsed. A proposition for 



94 ILLINOIS ODD-FELLOWS' CODE. 

membership otherwise than by initiation may be renewed at any 
time. Sub. Const. ^ Art. ii, Sec. 8. 

425. Lodges may admit to membership and to all its rights 
and privileges except the right to benefits, and subject to all 
obligations and penalties, such members of defunct Lodges as 
were, at the time of the extinction of their Lodges, in good 
standing therein, but whom it is not deemed advisable to admit 
to beneficial membership on account of advanced age. A peti- 
tion for such membership must be upon card or the regular 
certificate from the Grand Officers of the defunct body. (wSee 
the S.G.L. law noted above. Sec. 364; see also next section.) 

426. A candidate for non-beneficial membership (Sec. 364) 
shall have held membership in the Order for at least five con- 
secutive years, be over fifty years of age, and be otherwise 
qualified as provided in Sec. 3 of this arMcle [Sec. 391) for an 
Ancient Odd-P'ellow ; but the holder of an unexpired withdrawal 
card may be admitted as a non-beneficial member. 

Stib. Const., Art. ii, Sec. 4. 

427. A non-beneficial member can become a beneficial 
member by withdrawing from the Lodge and being admitted on 
a new application for beneficial membership. 

428. Every person admitted or reinstated as a non-bene- 
ficial member shall be entitled to all the rights, privileges and 
advantages of membership, except benefits, and shall be subject 
to penalties and disabilities as other members. And no benefits 
shall be allowed to any non-beneficial member, nor shall any pecu- 
niary relief be extended to such member from the funds of the 
Lodge, except upon the recommendation of some committee. 

Sub. Const., Art. x, Sec. lo. 



CHAPTER XIV. 
Dues and Fees: Revenue and Expenditures. 

429. No person shall be admitted to membership or rein- 
stated in this Lodge, or receive any of the degrees, or a card, 
until he shall have paid the amount required therefor by this 



ILLINOIS ODD-FELLOWS' CODE. 95 

Constitution or the By-Laws. When dues and special assess- 
ments or fines stand charged upon account, the payments made 
shall apply to these in the order of their accruing. 

Sitb. Const., A7't. X, Sec. i. 

430. The regular contributions to the Lodge fund shall 
not be at a less rate than seven cents a week, to be determined 
by the by-laws; but the Lodge shall by its by-laws prescribe 
some less rate, not exceeding five cents a week, for the dues of 
non-beneficial members. 

The Lodge may by its by-laws require such further contribu- 
tions for a Widows and Orphans' Fund, an Education Fund, a 
Funeral Assessment or Fund, or for any other fund suitable to 
the purposes of the Order, for either or all of them, as the Lodge 
shall determine. Sub. Cofist., Art. x, Sees. 5 a7id (^. 

431. The amounts fixed for dues and fees in the constitu- 
tion of subordinates are minimum rates, except in some instances 
relating to reinstatements [Sees. 776-780) and in regard to the 
dues from non-beneficial members, where the maximum rate is 
fixed [Sec. 430) ; the Lodge must fix its own rates in its 
by-laws. 

432. A regular assessment for hiring watchers for-the sick 
is legal under Sec. 430, to be fixed in the by-laws; all by-law 
assessments are to be paid when due, without regard to amount 
of such special funds in the treasury. 

433. No person shall be admitted to membership in this 
Lodge for a less sum than is herein provided, viz : 

By initiation, five dollars; by deposit of card, two dollars; 
as an Ancient Odd-Fellow, five dollars ; and as a non-beneficial 
member, five dollars. 

The fee for each degree shall not be less than three dollars. 

Sub. Const., Art. x, Sees. 2 and 3. 

434. The word " dues " has three meanings in our laws : 
First. — The weekly contributions of Sec. 430, in distinction 

from what is paid for initiation and degrees, which amounts are 
fees. 

Second. — The regular weekly contributions and anything else 
regularly accruing at stated intervals ; the '' further contribu- 
tions " of Sec. 430. In this sense it is used when saying "the 
Secretary shall be exempt from all dues," and in Sec. 449. 



96 ILLINOIS ODD-FELLOWS' CODE. 

Thh'd, — All that is due from a member on the books of the 
Lodge, including the weekly contributions; regular contributions, 
special assessments, and fines. When it is said that one taking 
a withdrawal card must pay all dues, the word is used in this 
third sense. 

435. Dues must be fixed at some stated rate in the by-laws 
of a Lodge. They accrue weekly: only for the convenience of 
the Lodge are they paid at some stated period; it is the right of 
a member to pay his dues, in full or in part, at any time prior to 
his suspension or dropping. A Grand Lodge may not enact or 
approve a law to allow a Lodge to receive a gross sum in 
advance instead of regular weekly dues. Subject to these prin- 
ciples, the time and manner of the payment of dues is left to the 
control of Grand Lodges. A Grand Lodge may permit Lodges 
to make by-laws requiring payment in advance; provided, such 
requirement works no forfeiture of guaranteed rights of members. 

Sov. 1 124, 1318, 1739, 7505, 5519, 7370. 

436. In determining a member's standnig in the Order, 
reference must be had to the amount of dues fixed by the Lodge, 
reckoned by weekly periods. A member does not owe his dues 
until the expiration of the week; a Lodge cannot require them 
paid in advance, except when a visiting card is taken; and they 
can be charged only for the actual time of membership. They 
may be entered weekly or at longer intervals, and paid at any 
time when a member chooses ; but the Lodge may require them 
paid at a definite time after due. 

437. When the rate of dues is changed by law, the change 
affects all members alike, including those who may have paid in 
advance, or who may hold visiting cards. If the rate is increased, 
the Secretary must charge the advance to such persons also. 

Sov. 7020, 7373-4- 

438. The holder of a visiting card is liable for all regular 
or special taxes levied by the Lodge while the card is current, 
whether he be present or absent from the Lodge. 

439. A law of a Grand Body which allows subordinates to 
admit "ministers of the Gospel" on special terms as to fees is 
not contrary to general laws (^Sec. 69, C7. 4) ; nor is it sectarian, 
as it must be construed to give the same privilege to all ministers 



ILLINOIS ODD-FELLOWS' CODE. 97 

who preach the Word of God from the Holy Scriptures, irre- 
spective of the distinction of the Old and New Testaments. 

Sov. 5480. 

440. Remission of initiation fee can be made by law 
only ; and a Lodge should not recognize any bargain made by 
members with a candidate to return to him part of his initiation 
fee. Sov. 6977. 

441. Every person joining a Lodge must pay the pre- 
scribed admission fee : ministers of the gospel and charter 
members of a Lodge are not excepted. Nor may this law be 
evaded by giving back the fee or any part of it. The same rule 
applies to degree fees. Charter members pay the regular fee 
for deposit of cards, and are credited with what they advance 
for the charter. 

442. The fee of an applicant shall be paid to the Perma- 
nent Secretary, or, if there be no P. S., to the Secretary, who 
shall pay it with the receipts of the meeting to the Treasurer. 
If an applicant is rejected or his petition is withdrawn, the fee 
shall be drawn from the Treasurer on an order in favor ^of the 
applicant. If the fee to be returned is placed in the hands of 
the proposer, he is made the agent of the Lodge : if he fails to 
pay it over, the Lodge is still responsible for it. 

443. Not the Lodge which confers degrees, but the Lodge 
to which an applicant belongs, is entitled to the fees for degrees. 
No Lodge has the right to give a certificate to receive the 
degrees until the fees are paid. {^Sec. 441.) Sov, 4069. 

444. A member is not in good standing while his note is 
held for dues or fees ; and Lodges may not take the notes of 
their members for such indebtedness. Sov. 1775. 

445. Payment of dues to the Treasurer is not a payment to 
the Lodge, since the laws require all payments to be made to 
the Secretaries. It is optional with a Lodge whether they will 
recognize a payment made to any other officer. Sov. 3084. 

446. The Permanent Secretary may not refuse to receive 
dues or fees from members of his Lodge, if properly tendered, 
between meetings of the Lodge. A payment counts from the 
time when made, and not from the next meeting. If the Treas- 
urer is acting P.S. pro teni.^ a payment to him is a valid payment 
to the Lodge. 



98 ILLINOIS ODD-FELLOWS' CODE. 

447. If a brother pays to the Lodge for dues or fees all that 
is required of him by the Secretary, which amount is nevertheless 
too small, by error of the officer, the brother's claims against the 
Lodge are not prejudiced thereby. Sov. 1935-6, 2484-5. 

448. If a candidate has paid the full fee required by the 
Lodge or by an illegal by-law, and has been admitted to mem- 
bership, he is a legal member ; and he cannot be required to pay 
an additional sum, though he is in honor bound to pay the 
regular fee, unless misrepresentation was used to induce him to 
become a member. 

449. A brother taking a visiting card must pay in advance 
all regular dues {^Sec. 434) for the time for which it is granted. 

Usage, recognized in Sov. 3120. 

450. When any officer exempt under the constitution and 
by-laws from the payment of dues [Sees. 291, 297) applies for 
and receives a visiting card, he must pay dues in advance the 
same as any other member. If he continues to serve in such 
office to the end of his term, or until the expiration of his card, 
the proper amount must be refunded to him. 

451. The same dues, regular and special, which are charged 
against all other members of a Lodge are also to be charged against 
a suspended member during his suspension ; as suspension from 
privileges of the Lodge works no suspension from dues. i^Secs. 
732,817.) Sov. 1505, 1884. 

452. If a member is expelled and afterward reinstated, 
no dues are to be charged for the interval. If, however, an 
expulsion be found illegal on appeal to the Grand Lodge, dues 
accrue for the time in which it was erroneously held valid. 

453. A Lodge cannot remit or donate dues, nor donate or 
loan money to a member for dues to keep him good on the 
books : dues must be paid. No arrearages can be remitted, 
except in case of reinstatement. {^Secs. 756, 776-9, 817.) 

454. The funds of a Subordinate Lodge can be used 
only to defray its necessary expenses, and for objects of benefi- 
cence and charity, under legislation of its Grand Body. Subor- 
dinate Lodges have the right to determine the propriety of 
appropriating their funds for all purposes recognized by the 
Order. The funds of a Lodge cannot be appropriated to 



ILLINOIS ODD-FELLOtVS' CODE. 99 

purposes which are not recognized by the Order, cannot be 
diverted from the treasury to be expended in pleasure-excursions, 
picnics, or the Hke, for these are not the legitimate purposes of 
a Lodge. To appropriate money from the treasury in payment 
of expenditures incurred in such excursions is a misappropria- 
tion of the funds provided for the sick, the burial of the dead, 
the education of the orphan, and the legitimate expenses of the 
Lodge. Sov. 31 17, 3960, 5198. 

455. The special funds of this Lodge shall be sacredly 
devoted to the purposes for which they may be raised ; and the 
general fund shall be considered sacredly pledged to the relief 
of distressed brothers, the payment of benefits, the furnishing of 
the Lodge room, and such other necessary expenses as are and 
may be recognized and authorized by the laws of the Order. 

The stocks, securities, investments and funds of this Lodge 
shall not be transferred, in whole or in part, but by a vote of 
two-thirds of the members present at a regular meeting. The 
resolution therefor shall have been presented at least one week 
before final action. Sub. Const., Art. x,.Secs. ii, 12. 

456. All things recommended by the Sovereign ^Grand 
Lodge or by the Grand Lodge of Illinois are legitimate objects 
or purposes of expenditure of Lodge funds, subject to the 
by-laws of the Lodges. 

Among the objects for which funds of a Lodge may be legally 
expended the following have been specified. A Lodge may 
expend its funds — 

(i) In the purchase of real estate and building a hall. 

Sov. 8166. 

(2) In purchase of land or lots for burial purposes. 

(3) In fitting up its hall with necessary furniture and appro- 
priate adornments, as an organ, frames for charter and pictures, 
etc. Sov. 8166. 

(4) In donations for any purpose within the object and scope 
of the Order. (The Washington Monument is not such a pur- 
pose.) Sov. 6350. 

(5) In hiring watchers for its own or transient sick members. 

Sov. 8166. 

(6) For expenses of a public or private installation. 

(7) For an orator at its own celebration, whose address must 
be upon Odd-Fellowship. 

(8) For buying official and other regalia. 



100 ILLINOIS ODD-FELLOWS' CODE. 

(9) For the formation and support of a Lodge library. 

Sov. 6985. 

(10) For a band of music at a funeral; provided, the by-laws 
have legal provision for it. [Sec. 465.) 

(11) For the celebration of the anniversary of the Order, at 
its discretion. {Sec. 457.) Sov. 3959. 

(12) For hall rent and music at such celebration. 

(13) In the payment of sick benefits, funeral benefits and 
expenses. 

(14) In the relief of distressed brothers and Lodges. 

(15) In the payment of officers whose duty involves extra 
labor, as the Secretaries, and the O.G. when he acts as Steward 
or Janitor, etc. Sov. 3 11 7. 

(16) In the formation of new Lodges and the extension of 
the Order. Sov. 4423, 4921, 8422. 

(17) In donations for any object which its Grand Lodge 
allows to be presented. 

457. Grand Lodges may pass laws to prevent Lodges from 
making grossly excessive appropriations of Lodge funds for the 
celebration of the anniversary of the Order : their discretion 
{Sec. 456, CI. 11) must be exercised in reasonable manner. 

Sov. 817 1. 

458. A Lodge may not use its funds — 

(i) For festival expenses generally; for a ball or banquet 
or dinner; in pleasure excursions, picnics, etc. {Sec. 454), or for 
a refreshment fund. Sov. 7813. 

(2) In donations or loans to pay the dues or fees of mem- 
bers. {Sec. 453-). 

(3) For donations to charitable objects outside the Order, 
unless from a special fund for the purpose. 

(4) To relieve a defaulting treasurer by giving him the 
balance in his hands and releasing his securities. 

(5) To relieve brothers who have borrowed money from the 
Lodge and who fail to pay their notes : the notes may not be 
given up to them. 

(6) To pay for the music at a funeral from its regular funds. 

Sov. 8053. 

(7) To any purposes forbidden by the principles laid down 
by the S.G.L. in Sec. 454. 

The following precedents are worthy of notice : A Lodge sent a com- 
mittee of one to attend the funeral of a member buried at a distance : three 
others accompanied him : it was held that the Lodge could not pay the 



ILLINOIS ODD-FELLOWS' CODE. 101 

expenses ol the three, but should of the one. A Lodge ordered telegraphing 
to another Lodge, and the issue of hand-bills for a meeting of members. 
The Finance Committee reported against paying for these items, on the 
ground that they were not necessar}^ expenses. It was decided that, these 
things having been done by order of the Lodge, it must pay for them. 

459. A surplus of money obtained by a committee for a 
celebration of the anniversary belongs to the Lodge. 

460. Bills are appropriately referred to the Finance Com- 
mittee (^Sec, 1025) for examination, which must report therein as 
soon as practicable : but a Lodge has the right to pay a bill 
without action of the Finance Committee, especially when the 
articles have been ordered by the Lodge ; but it cannot accept a 
report of the minority of the committee, except as an amend- 
ment to the report of the majority. 

461. Lodges may and must tax their members so as to be 
able to pay stipulated weekly benefits. Sov. 3585. 

462. A Lodge may assess regular dues by its laws, or a 
special assessment on the death of a member to create a fund 
to pay a stipulated amount to the widow or dependent relatives 
of the deceased brother. Such stipulated amount may be the 
gross sum of the funeral dues or assessment upon his death. 

Sov. 8534. 

463. A Lodge may not levy a special assessment to defray 
the expenses of a celebration. 

Comparing this section with Sec. 456, CI. 11, it will be seen that a Lodge 
may expend funds, which it has to spare, in a celebration ; but if it has not 
funds enough, it ma^^ not raise them by special tax or assessment. 

464. A Lodge may not levy a tax for the furnishing of the 
Lodge room when there are in its treasury sufficient funds; but 
it may levy an assessment [the S.G.L. says (5825) it may adopt 
regular dues necessaiy to provide for all legitimate expenses] for 
any necessary expense, as in furnishing the Lodge room, getting 
needed paraphernalia, regalia, etc. Such assessment may be 
enforced like other dues. 

465. A Lodge may not pay the expense of a band of music 
at a funeral from its general funds (^Sov. 8053); but such 
expense may be included . in a special assessment for funeral 
expenses, if the by-laws .so provide. 

466. When the by-laws of a Lodge do not create a special 
fund for funeral purposes, the tax assessed by the by-laws upon 



102 ILLINOIS ODD-FELLOWS' CODE, 

members in case of the death of a beneficial member must be 
paid into the general fund, and funeral benefits are to be paid 
out of said fund, by order of the Lodge. 

467. If the by-laws of a Lodge provide for an assessment 
upon members in case of a minimum amount in the treasury 
(that is, if there be less than some certain amount there), the 
minimum is to be estimated in cash, not counting money at 
interest on a note, nor money to be paid in soon. The object of 
the assessment is to provide funds for immediate use; and the 
N.G. must order the making of the assessment without waiting 
for collections. 

468. A wise and prudent dispensation of donations is an 
integral portion of the objects of the Order, one on which much 
of its reputation for beneficence has been erected, and one the 
destruction of which would carry with it the whole claim the 
Order has to be regarded as an institution devoted to charitable 
purposes. A Grand Lodge miy limit the expenses of a Lodge 
to purposes within the Order, and prohibit division of its prop- 
erty among its members; but it may not require its charities in 
the Order to await the approval of the Grand Master or its own 
Grand Body. Sov. 2772. 

469. When a number of persons join a Lodge for the 
sole purpose of qualifying themselves to become appHcants for 
a charter for a new Lodge, the Lodge in which they are initiated 
and take the degrees may donate to the new Lodge when organ- 
ized the amount of fees received from such applicants. A 
Lodge may make an appropriation to aid in establishing a 
Rebekah-Degree Lodge. 

470. The members of a Lodge desiring to cease work and 
join a neighboring Lodge may not transfer the funds and prop- 
erty to said neighboring Lodge, unless the two Lodges are 
consolidated, under the laws of the Grand Lodge. [Sec. 200.) 

471. It is not obligatory upon a Lodge to establish a 
Widows and Orphans' Fund; but after it has created such a 
fund, the Lodge cannot draw upon it to meet contingent 
expenses, nor merge it into the general fund in the Lodge treas- 
ury, without consent of the Grand Lodge given according to the 
terms of the following section. 

In 1868 the Grand Lodge of Illinois authorized all Lodges to merge the 
W. and O. Fund into the general fund; and in 1870 it said that this should 



ILLINOIS ODD-FELLOWS' CODE. 103 

be done, not by abolishing the accretions, but by direct action. But in 1870 
and in 1871 the S.G.L. declared, on appeals from Oregon and Pennsylvania, 
that neither a Grand nor a subordinate body may merge into its general fund 
or convert a special fund after it is created. " Having been clothed with the 
garb of a trust, a trust it must remain." {Sov. 4875, 5162.) In 1877 it passed 
the laws of Sec. 472, prescribing when and how a special fund may be con- 
verted. 

472. When the object for which a special fund was created 
in a Lodge has been fully accomplished, and its Grand Lodge 
so declares, any remaining balance may be diverted to other pur- 
poses. And when any separate fund shall be found unnecessary, 
a Lodge may, with the consent of its Grand Lodge, otherwise 
appropriate such fund or merge it into the general fund ; pro- 
vided, fi7'st, that the object contemplated by such special fund be 
otherwise fully protected and secured ; and second, that provision 
be fully made to return any donation to any donor who may 
object to the appropriation or mergement. Sov. 7402, 7368-9. 

473. If a Lodge sets apart a certain share of its dues for a 
special fund, then there should be set off that share of w^hat is 
actually collected and paid in. 

474. A brother may not offset his dues with an unadjusted 
claim, even if just, for sick benefits. The Lodge, and not the 
brother, must make the offset. 

475. Lodges may loan their funds upon undoubted secu- 
rity. 

In 1864, the G.L.Ill. instructed its subordinates not to loan their funds upon 
personal or mortgage securities, but instead to invest in real estate or stocks 
(///. ///, 522). This was done because of doubts as to the legal power of a 
Lodge to recover by suit funds so loaned. Next year the prohibition was 
repealed (///. ///, 564), because an amendment to the act of incorpora- 
tion had by statute given the desired power. — Section i of the Amendatory 
Act, which see in full in Journal G.L, 111. for 1864, p. 536, and in Appen- 
dix to this work. See especially the note which gives the decision of the 
Supreme Court on the way in which Lodges sue. 

476. The funds and property of a Subordinate Lodge are 
Trust Funds and Property, usable only for the legitimate 
objects of the Order; and all diversion of them by division of 
them among members at dissolution of the subordinate is wrong 
and dishonorable, and in direct violation of the trust conferred by 
a charter. Sov. 3664. 

477. All funds and property of a dissolving or defunct 
subordinate must be surrendered to its Grand Body, which must 
use such funds or property and its avails as a separate trust fund 



104 ILLINOIS ODD-FELLOWS' CODE, 

[for restoration according to previous laws], and for aiding and 
assisting working subordinates when in need of funds to sustain 
their organization. (See Sees. 1056-7-8-9). Sov. 3664. 

478. Grand Bodies are directed to pass such laws as will 
enforce and secure observance of the laws in Sees. 476 and 
477, and prevent any member guilty of sharing in a dishonest 
division of such funds from ever regaining membership. And 
they are justified in invoking the laws of the country to compel 
surrender of such embezzled funds and property. Sov. 3664. 

479. The Grand Master is instructed, whenever the interests 
of the Order require it, to suspend any defaulting Lodge, or 
Lodge attempting to distribute its funds and property among 
its members ; and where loss is likely to result from maladmmis- 
tration by or through trustees or by such default or attempted 
distribution, it is his duty to call in legal advice, and in extreme 
cases to institute suits at law or in equity to protect the rights 
of the Grand Lodge. [See the legal rights of the Grand Lodge 
and the provisions of the statute in the amendments of the Act 
of Incorporation, in the Appendix.] 

480. A Lodge having bought land for cemetery purposes, 
it would be an illegal distribution of Lodge property to parcel 
it out and give each member a burial lot. 

481. Funds of defuncts may be applied by Grand Bodies 
to the assistance of widows and orphans of the defunct bodies, 
or to any relief fund in the Grand Body's jurisdiction ; but if a 
fund is held on a specific trust {See. 471), the Grand Body must 
see that the trust is duly executed. (See See, 1064.) Sov. 5516. 



CHAPTER XV. 
Cards, Visitors, Withdrawals and Resignations. 

482. A card is a certificate of membership. Cards are 
of two kinds: (i) Visiting, called also traveling; (2) With- 
drawal, called sometimes final, permanent or clearance. The 
visiting card is a certificate of membership in a Lodge, and 



ILLINOIS ODD-FELLOWS' CODE. 105 

avouches the good standing of the holder and his payment of 
dues up to a certain time, during which time he may visit 
Lodges by use of his card [Sec. 519). The v^dthdrawal card is 
a certificate of membership in the Order [Sec. 361), but of with- 
drawal from a Lodge: it is current for visiting [Sec. 519) for 
one year only : it is also to be used in regaining membership in 
a Lodge. 

There are also visiting and withdrawal cards for Degree 
Lodges of the Degree of Rebekah; and Dismissal Certificates, 
which are certificates of former membership. [Sec. 773). 

Usage ^ and Laws of S.G.L. 

483. The forms of the cards and certificate named in the 
preceding section have been prescribed by the S.G.L. , and no 
dismissal certificate or visiting or withdrawal cards must be used 
but those sold by that body, bearing a facsimile of the counter- 
signature of the Grand Secretary of the S.G.L. ; the signature of 
a State Grand Secretary is not necessary, though formerly made 
so in some jurisdictions. A card in use must be signed by the 
N.G. and Secretary of the subordinate issuing it; and the holder 
must write his name on the margin, which he' must do in the 
presence of the officer from whom he receives the A.T.P.W. : 
it must also have the seal of the body issuing it. The rank of 
the holder must also appear upon it. 

Sov. By-Law xiv ; Sov. 677-8-9, 816, 911, 2665, 3m ? 5^27, 

5881, 6233. 

During the war of the secession, some of the Southern jurisdictions issued 
cards of their own device, being unable to procure those issued by the 
S.G.L. Therefore, in 1865, that body 

Resolved, That visiting and withdrawal cards heretofore issued by any 
Southern jurisdiction, countersigned by the Grand Secretary and attested 
by the seal of the Grand Body issuing the same, shall be taken and deemed 
to be as effectual as if the same had borne the countersignature, or a 
facsimile thereof, of the Grand Secretary of the Sovereign Grand Lodge. 

Such visiting cards are no longer in use ; but such withdrawal cards may 
be presented by Ancient Odd-Fellows, even for years to come. The Grand 
Lodge of Australia, about 1876, issued a withdrawal card which Lodges are 
forbidden to recognize or receive. Sov. 3801, 7464. 

484. A Lodge may not refuse either a visiting or a with- 
drawal card to a brother asking for it (except as provided in 
Sees. 489, 490, 491), if he is free from all legal disqualification 
[he must be free from pending charges, from any information in 
the hands of the Noble Grand upon which charges may be based, 
and from indebtedness for dues of all kinds. — Sec, 504]. A 
suspended or dropped member cannot ask for a card. If there 



106 ILLINOIS ODD-FELLOWS' CODE, 

is reason to refuse to grant a visiting card, a withdrawal card 
'should not be granted. The fact that a brother proposes to visit 
or reside in a climate deemed hazardous is not a good reason for 
refusing him a visiting card. Sov. 2488, 2515-18, 1739. 

485. Indebtedness for money loaned on security is not 
cause for refusing a withdrawal card. (See the Seaman case, 
Sov. 3262). 

486. If a person elected to membership does not consum- 
mate his membership by signing the constitution, the Lodge has 
no right to grant him a withdrawal card, unless membership had 
been acquired according to Sec. 417, by use: otherwise the 
proper course is to return the card which he deposited (^Sec. 419). 

487. A member of this Lodge may end his membership 
therein by taking a withdrawal card or a dismissal certificate 
[Sec. 756) ; and he may end his membership in this Lodge and 
in the Order also by presenting a written resignation of member- 
ship [Sec. 538). No resignation of membership or application 
for withdrawal card shall be entertained from any one who is 
not clear on the books. Sub. Const., Art. ix^ Sec. i. 

488. A withdrawal card may be granted to any member 
by vote of a majority upon ballot at a regular meeting. Appli- 
cation therefor must be made by the member in person or in 
writing, and shall lie over one week for final action, except that 
when the applicant has left the vicinity of the Lodge, or it is his 
known purpose to leave before the next meeting, or to join in a 
petition for a new Lodge, the card may be granted without 
delay. Sub. Const., Art. ix, Sec. 2. 

489. Upon all legal applications for withdrawal cards (Sec. 
488) the Lodge must vote by ballot : the affirmative vote of a 
majority of members present is necessary to grant the card. The 
vote granting a withdrawal card cannot be reconsidered nor 
rescinded. Sov. 3827, 4716. 

In 1856 (Jour. p. 24), the G.L. Illinois held that, in accordance with the 
common parliamentary rule, a Lodge might, on the night of granting a final 
card, or on the next night, reconsider its action and allow the application to 
be withdrawn, unless the card had been made out and delivered, in which 
case the action could not be reconsidered. This decision is now overruled. 

490. Upon regular application, a withdrawal card must, 
if there are no charges against him, be granted to the applicant, 
or refused upon ballot. (See Sec. 537). 



ILLINOIS ODD-FELLOWS' CODE. 107 

491. A withdrawal card may not be granted to a brother 
who has been tried and acquitted by the Lodge, if an appeal is 
taken against the acquittal before the Lodge ballots on the 
application : the grant of the card must await the final action on 
the appeal. 

492. If a Lodge violates the law [Sec. 488) which requires 
all applications for withdrawal cards to be made in writing or in 
person, and grants a card on a proxy application, the grant is 
void if the brother to whom it is made refuses to accept the card. 
A letter addressed to the Permanent Secretary, with money, and 
asking for a withdrawal card, makes proper application for the 
card. 

493. When a member has appHed for a card, in person, 
and the Lodge adjourns without action, it is not necessary that 
the application be renewed. Once legally made, it needs no 
repetition. Sov. 6204. 

494. Since applications for withdrawal cards must lie over 
for one week for action, a card granted on the night of applica- 
tion, contrary to Sec. 488, is illegally granted ; and the Lodge 
can rescind its action; and the brother's connection with his 
Lodge is not severed. A vote granting a withdrawal card upon 
the condition that dues be paid before the card is issued is 
illegal, and does not sever connection with the Lodge : the dues 
must be paid before the vote. 

495. Superfluous language in an application for a with- 
drawal card, such as an illegal condition or request, does not 
affect _ the validity of the application, or of the card when 
granted. Sov. 7883. 

This decision was given in a case in which a brother asked for a card 
'' with privilege of deposit." It was held that these words were an illegal 
condition, and should be treated as superfluous language, and that the 
Lodge should have acted on the application as if the words had not been 
there. 

496. A Secretary has no right to withhold a card which 
has been granted by a Lodge, and for doing so he is liable to 
arraignment, even if the responsibility be assumed on the alleged 
discovery of crime on the part of the intended recipient. But 
when the local law requires payment for a card, the Lodge, or 
the officer whose duty it is to issue it, has the right to require 
payment therefor before delivering it. ^>7/. 1840, 2482. 

Case. — R applied for a withdrawal card ; granted by unanimous vote. 



108 ILLINOIS ODD-FELLOWS' CODE, 

but not by ballot ; not filled out. The same night R absconded, but the 
card was not annulled. Four years later, he applied for the card. 

Decided, The Lodge should issue it. Sov. 5853. 

497. A Subordinate Lodge having granted a withdrawal 
card to a member, and afterward ascertaining that, by mistake or 
otherwise, he was in debt to the Lodge, the Lodge cannot 
legally call on him for said indebtedness, unless fraud or wrong 
on his part be shown. But if a brother taking a withdrawal card 
has paid his dues in advance, the Lodge must refund them. And 
if a brother asks for a withdrawal card, and it is granted, but he 
does not take it, and continues to pay dues to the Lodge, he is 
not a member, and his dues must be refunded to him. 

Case of fohn Pryke. — Bro. Pryke asked for a withdrawal card ; on 
ballot the N.G. declared it not granted, and Pryke acquiesced, and was 
content to remain a member. Some weeks after the vote, the N.G. remarked 
in conversation that he had made a mistake, as there was a majority of balls 
for the card. On a partial statement of the case, the Grand Master ruled 
that the card must be issued. 

Decided, That Pryke had a right to call for the card upon the discovery 
of the error ; but as he was content, the Grand Master could not declare 
him out of membership. Sov. 6177-8. 

498. Between application for a withdrawal card and vote 
thereon, charges may be preferred against the applicant; and a 
vote on the application may not be had until the charges are 
withdrawn [dismissed], or a trial had. Sov. 1992. 

499. A Lodge may not entertain an application for a with- 
drawal card when information against the applicant is in the 
hands of the Noble Grand; and in such case that officer must 
refuse to allow the application to be voted on. Notice of an 
intention to prefer charges or lay an information amounts to 
nothing; the information must be actually put in the hands of the 
Noble Grand to authorize withholding the card. 

500. Cards can be granted by vote of a Lodge only, and 
never by its officers without vote. The applicant may withdraw 
his application at any time before the vote is taken. 

Sov. 1085, 1885, 1635. 

501. It is the duty of the N.G. and Secretary of a Lodge 
to issue the dismissal certificates provided for in Sec. 756, Cls. 
5-8, upon proper application in open Lodge and payment of the 
fee, without vote of the Lodge. And no Lodge has a right to 
refuse a dismissal certificate to a member suspended for non-pay- 
ment of dues, who makes proper application for the same. 

5^z/. 4932, 5194, 7375. 



ILLINOIS ODD-FELLOWS' CODE. 109 

502. In case of application for a visiting card, no ballot 
is necessary, but the application must be passed upon by the 
Lodge. This may be done by a formal motion, made and sec- 
onded, and put by the Chair, or it may be done by the presiding 
officer stating that "the card will be granted if there be no 
objection." The latter is by general consent of the Lodge; and 
in such case the card is granted by the action of the Lodge as 
much as in the former. Very much of the legislation of all 
bodies is done by general consent. Sov. 6558. 

503. Brothers holding cards of either sort are amenable 
to the subordinates that issued them for good conduct, and are 
subject to their penal laws. They are entitled to visit Lodges 
during the terms for which their cards are given, which is 
expressed on the face of a visiting card, and is always one year 
for a witjidrawal card. A brother taking a visiting card remains 
a member of his Lodge, and is entitled to claim the courtesies of 
the Order and assistance in sickness or distress ; but when a 
member applies for a withdrawal card, for whatever purpose, the 
act shows a desire to reUnquish his membership ; and the vote 
granting the card severs his connection with his Lodge, whether 
the card be taken or not, and cuts off all claims upon the Lodge 
or the Order, except right to visit and to apply for renewal of 
membership. Sov. 677-8,2151, 2628, 787, 1080, iioi. 

504. A visiting card may be granted to any member by vote 
of the Lodge at a regular or a special meeting; but it shall not be 
made out until he shall have paid all charges on the books, his 
dues to the expiration of the card, and the price of the card. 

Sub. Const., Art. ix. Sec. 4. 

505. Having granted, issued and delivered a visiting card 
to a brother, the Lodge cannot recall the card, or nullify it, 
unless the brother obtained it through fraud or deception, or for 
offense committed previous to granting the card, of which he 
must be convicted upon a charge and by a trial ; and he may be 
tried without any revoking of the card. 

506. The time for which a visiting card shall be granted is 
to be determined by the subordinate which issues it. Sov. 677. 

507. A Lodge may not extend the time for which a visiting 
card was granted by endorsement on the back thereof. If the 
holder wishes to prolong visiting privileges, he must get a new 
card in the usual way. Sov. 7470. 



110 ILLINOIS ODD-FELLOWS' CODE. 

508. If a Lodge or Encampment become defunct, or is 
suspended or expelled, the validity of withdrawal cards previ- 
ously granted by it is not affected ; but a visiting card in such 
case is of no force, and cannot be recognized. Sov. 1470. 

509. Certificates issued to members of an extinct subor- 
dinate by the proper officers of the State Grand Body in conform- 
ity with the laws of the Sovereign Grand Lodge do not require 
countersignature of the Grand Secretary of the S.G.L. to make 
them available ; but all such certificates are to be recognized by 
every subordinate to which they may be presented — whether 
in or out of the jurisdiction issuing them — as having the same 
force and effect, and entitling the holder thereof to all the privi- 
leges of a card of withdrawal issued by an existing subordinate 
in good standing [Sec. 1065.) No form for them having been 
prepared by the S.G.L., Grand Bodies may prepare and issue 
such certificates for their own jurisdictions, which should set 
forth on their face the circumstances of the case, and be signed 
by the Grand Master and Grand Secretary, with the seal of the 
Grand Lodge. Sov. 2739, 3876, 3621. 

510. The granting of a visiting card to an officer is a 
matter of course upon his request, and never gives him leave of 
absence. Nor does the holding of a visiting card deprive a 
brother of office, or of the power to hold office, or of any other 
right of a member. But if a financial officer refuses to settle his 
accounts and deliver everything belonging to the Lodge and in 
his possession, he cannot demand a withdrawal card ; and the 
Lodge may refuse the card until his accounts are adjusted and 
he is clear of the books and free from all charges. 

■Sov. 2758, 4240, 4374. 

511. It is proper to certify upon the back of a visiting card 
the fact that the holder is not entitled to benefits, and to specify 
the time when he becomes so. 

512. A withdrawal card after one year from its date 
becomes invalid for visiting ; the holder of it cannot even be 
introduced by an elective Grand Officer under his privilege 
[Sec. 149) ; but it remains good as evidence of former standing 
in the Order, upon which the holder may rejoin the Order 
[Sec. 392). Sov. 1921, 4993. 



ILLmoiS ODD-FELLOWS' CODE, 111 

513. When a card of withdrawal has been lost or destroyed, 
the Lodge which issued the same may grant a certificate under 
seal setting forth the fact of such original issue ; and the certifi- 
cate so granted may be used in lieu of a card as evidence of 
previous good standing. Or, in such case, the Lodge may, at its 
own discretion, grant the brother a new card of the same date 
as the original, upon the face of which must be stated the fact 
that it is a duplicate. Such card should be signed by the 
present officers of the Lodge. Sov. 1841, 1921, 2699. 

514. A Lodge may not issue any other letter of recommen- 
dation than a regular card, or a certificate of former standing 
in the Order in case of loss of card. (^Sec. 513.) 

515. A Lodge or Encampment may at any time during 
one year from the granting of a withdrawal card, and only 
within that year, annul the same for any good cause existing at 
the time of issue and not known till afterward, or arising during 
the year, unless it has been deposited meanwhile for member- 
ship in another subordinate. (^Sec. 657.) The effect of such 
annulment is not to expel the brother from the Order, but to 
bring him back into the Lodge to be tried. " The annulment 
of a withdrawal card renders it as if it had never been granted." 

Sov. 1246, 1722, 3030, 2145. 

The interpretation of Sec. 515 by the Grand Lodge of Illinois has varied. 
In 1855 and i860 the doctrine was stated thus (///. ///, 169, 182, 193 : 1855, 
26, 125, 127) : " The annulment of a withdrawal card creates a quasi 
membership for a specific purpose and for no other ; the accused is not made 
a full member again. He is not entitled to benefits, nor do dues accrue 
against him. If lie be acquitted upon trial, or if he be suspended for a time, 
his card or a duplicate must be returned to him at the end of the trial or term 
of suspension, the redelivery of which again severs his connection with the 
Lodge and his quasi membership, and places him in precisely the same 
position in which he would have been had not his card been annulled." 
But, after this view had prevailed for sixteen years, it was (///. VI, 64) 
declared that on annulment of a card, the card has been totally made void. 

516. A member holding a withdrawal card may surrender 
the same to the Lodge from which he received it, and thereby 
sever his connection with the Order, and release the Lodge from 
any control over him. Such an act is a resignation. A Lodge 
may call upon the holder of a withdrawal card to surrender the 
same ; but such an act on the part of the Lodge is equivalent to 
annulling the card, and can be done for the same purpose only. 
If after annulment of the card the brother is acquitted on trial, 
still the card is void and he is in membership. 



112 ILLINOIS ODD-FELLOWS' CODE. 

517. A card of withdrawal is the absohite property of the 
holder, and is an evidence of his former good membership; and 
when he offers to deposit it, and thus gain admission into a 
Lodge, if rejected, a Lodge has not the right to mutilate the 
card by indorsing "rejected" thereon, but must return it to him 
as received. If it is deposited for membership in a jurisdiction 
where signing the constitution is required to consummate mem- 
bership, and the candidate after election fails to make such 
signature, he may, if he chooses to decline membership, demand 
the return of his card ; and the Lodge must return it. 

Sov. 1449, 1963, 4860. 

518. A Subordinate Lodge may, by a vote of two-thirds of 
its members present, grant a card to the wife or wadow of any 
member, on application therefor, to be signed by the officers of 
the Lodge, and countersigned by the recipient on the margin. 
Such card, if granted to the wife of a member, cannot remain in 
force more than one year ; but if granted to a widow, it 
continues valid during her widowhood. The G.L.U.S. has 
given a form for such card. It has also given a form for a card 
for a lady having the Degree of Rebekah; but it does not 
print and sell either of these cards. It does print and sell cards 
{Sec. 482) for members of Rebekah Degree Lodges. (See 
Appendix of Forms). Sov. 814, 2929, 4855. 

519. A qualified brother, in good standing, may visit any 
Lodge in his own state upon the proper term password; but it 
he desires to visit Lodges beyond the limits of his state, he must 
take with him either a visiting card or a withdrawal card, in the 
form prescribed by the S.G.L., and also the traveling password. 
A withdrawal card is a "proper card" for visiting, in the sense 
of those words in the constitution. But a brother cannot be 
admitted to a Lodge upon an Encampment card, nor vice versa. 

Sov. Const., Art. xvi, Sec. I; Sov. 677-8, 2560, 1 150, 1291. 

520. When a visiting brother presents himself at the door 
of a Lodge, it is his duty to send in his card -by the Guardian. 
If the card be authentic, the presiding officer appoints a com- 
mittee of three members of the Third Degree to examine the 
visitor. One member of this committee must be the N.G. him- 
self, the V.G., or the sitting P.G., or some other brother known 
to be in possession of the traveling password. It is the duty of 
the proper member of the examining committee in the first place 



ILLINOIS ODD-FELLOWS' CODE. 113 

to obtain the traveling password privately from the visitor; the 
word is to be lettered, and the visitor must commence. The 
committee must then examine the visitor as to his identity, and 
in the degree in which the Lodge is open, and in cases of doubt 
they may extend their examination to the other degrees. If the 
examining committee be satisfied with the result of the examina- 
tion, they will introduce the visitor into the Lodge without 
further ceremony. [But see Sees. 147, 148.] 

Sov. 690, 912, 1 1 14, 4467; U. S. Digest of 1847, PP- 37? Z'^- 

521. When a brother takes a card of either kind, the 
highest rank or title which he has attained in that branch of the 
Order which issues the card must be entered in the card. But 
if the brother be a Grand Representative, or a Past Grand Rep- 
resentative, that rank should be expressed upon the card, whether 
it is issued by Lodge or Encampment. Sov. 7735. 

522. A card is only prima-facie evidence that the holder is 
a member of the Order; other evidences or tests are required to 
prove him such. The designation of rank in the card only 
shows the degrees in which a brother may be proved, and is not 
conclusive evidence of rank. However, if the card states the 
holder thereof to be a Past Grand, any Lodge which he visits 
or to which he is admitted must recognize him as a Past Grand, 
and give him P.G.'s regalia. Sov. 4015, 4467. 

Further statement as to the privileges of a brother claiming to be a Past 
Grand are to be foimd in the Ritual, pages 31, 32, with which officers should 
make themselves familiar. 

523. The legal course to pursue with a card presented 
without the holder's signature is, to return it to him without 
remark other than "It is informal." 

524. If a visitor is found to have the A.T.P.W. of the 

current year, but his card is dated in some other year, by clerical 
error or otherwise, any Lodge to which he presents himself can- 
not admit him, because of the informality. The Lodge cannot 
go behind the face of the card and correct supposed errors. If 
a card has been returned to. the holder as informal, and is subse- 
quently presented in correct form, the Lodge must presume that 
the corrections were legally made. If the signatures were 
incorrect, the officers who made them have a right to correct 
them, even though they are no longer in office. 

525. A Lodge has the right to examine a brother visiting 

9 



114 ILLINOIS ODD-FELLOWS' CODE. 

by card every time he presents himself for admission ; and he 
must be introduced by the committee after each examination. 
But it is not imperative to make the formal examination upon 
each visit; after the visitor has-been once recognized, the exami- 
nation and formal introduction may be dispensed with, if the 
Lodge choose; and he may be admitted at the opening and 
through the whole session. But in such case the presiding officer 
must inspect the card and ascertain that it is still current, and 
that the brother has been previously examined and admitted on 
the same card. Sov. 2561, 6267, 2923, 2990. 

526. A visiting brother cannot be examined nor admitted 
to a seat in the Lodge before the Lodge has been opened 
(except as in Sec. 525) ; nor does the privilege of elective Grand 
Officers {^Sec. 535) allow them to introduce visitors prior to 
opening, as they must be received in open Lodge. Sov. 1244. 

527. A visiting brother holding a card in due form, but 
being destitute of the A.T.P.W., cannot be admitted to visit a 
Lodge, even upon the testimony of those who know him to be 
an Odd-Fellow. It is never legal that one brother should vouch 
for another. An examining committee is not confined to the 
A.T.P.W. and card in its examination of a visiting brother from 
a different jurisdiction, but should use all the means necessary to 
satisfy itself of the correctness of the visitor. 

528. The holder of a withdrawal card when visiting the 
Lodge from which he drew his card must be examined and 
admitted just as brothers are admitted on cards from other 
Lodges: he has no special rights or privileges. Nor can a 
brother to whom a withdrawal card has been granted be admitted 
without password and examination, whether he has taken the 
card or not. 

529. When a member desiring admission as a visitor proves 
himself correct in the regular mode of examination, it is im- 
proper to require him to affirm his membership by any test oath 
or other obligation. [The Ritual shows fully the proper tests and 
prohibits others, pages 30, 31, 32.] Sov. 1074. 

530. A Lodge cannot refuse to admit as a visitor a brother 
w^ho presents himself as such with proper card and the A.T.P.W. 
or an order for it, whatever may be known or believed respecting 
illegality in his initiation, or immorality in his conduct : immo- 



ILLINOIS ODD-FELLOWS' CODE, 115 

rality should be reported to the Lodge granting the card, that it 
may deal with him. But a Lodge has an inherent right to 
protect itself from disorder, the want of decorum, and viola- 
tions of the ordinary proprieties of life. 

Sov. 1723, 1885, 2787, 6987-8. 

531. A Lodge may protect itself from violence, insult and 
disorder, upon actual occurrence or demonstration of such 
wrong; but it must not be anticipated or presumed; this 
power of protection must be called forth only by actual demon- 
stration. 

532. Visitors may not be required to leave the Lodge 
room during a trial nor at any other time. 

533. A Lodge may visit a sister Lodge in a body, when 
accompanied by one of its first two officers, who may introduce 
the visiting Lodge in the manner provided for the introduction 
of visitors by elective Grand Officers [Sec. 535). And this law 
gives a Lodge the right to visit outside its own jurisdiction with- 
out cards or the A.T.P.W., under its presiding officers. In case 
of such visiting outside its own jurisdiction, it is necessary that 
one of the first two officers of the visiting Lodge shall have his 
visiting card and the A.T.P.W. Sov. 2990, 4467, 6619. 

534. In case of visitation by a Lodge in a body, the intro- 
ducing officer should pass a satisfactory examination and be 
known as or proved to be such officer. 

535. A brother in good standing in a Lodge or in the 
Order [Sec. 361) may visit, without examination, if introduced 
by a Grand Representative, or by any elective officer of the 
Grand Lodge or Grand Encampment within whose jurisdiction 
he wishes to visit. Grand Representatives of either branch being 
hereby authorized to introduce visiting brothers into both Subor- 
dinate Lodges and Encampments in their several jurisdictions 
[Sees. 149, 150) ; but in all such cases the presiding officer of 
the same shall be satisfied that the brother introducing such 
visitor is a Grand Representative of the jurisdiction to which 
said Lodge or Encampment belongs. Brothers so introduced 
are received with or without honors of the Order, according to 
their rank, just as if introduced by a committee, as directed in 
the Ritual. Sov. By-Law, Art. xiv ; Sov. 3513, 6612. 

536. Officers and members of Subordinate Lodges when 



116 ILLINOIS ODD-FELLOWS' CODE. 

visiting another Lodge in a body, and introduced by their own 
officers, are not entitled to be received with " the honors of the 
Order." Sov. 3853, and Ritual. 

537. If upon ballot a majority of the members present 
refuse to grant a withdrawal card to an applicant therefor, such 
applicant, upon the payment of all dues and tendering a written 
resignation of his membership, and not being otherwise disquali- 
fied, is entitled to receive from the Secretary, under seal, a 
certificate that he has resigned his membership ; and such 
certificate is sufficient evidence that the brother was in good 
standing at the time of his resignation : Provided^ that upon 
the refusal of a Lodge to grant such withdrawal card, the mem- 
ber applying for the same has the right of appeal to the Grand 
Lodge of his jurisdiction. Sov. 3827. 

The right of appeal on refusal of a card as declared in Sec. 537 is a barren 
right [i.e. one producing no result] until the S.G.L. shall more plainly 
construe its own law. 

538. A member in good standing and free from indebted- 
ness may withdraw from the Order, without card, upon a written 
resignation of membership, which completely severs him from 
the jurisdiction of the Order. A resignation may not be received 
or acted on while an information or charges are pending against 
the brother offering it. A renunciation of Odd-Fellowship is 
not a legal resignation of membership, and has no effect upon 
membership or standing in the Lodge ; but it cuts off claim for 
benefits from the time of the renunciation. 

Sov. 805-6, 1449, 4716, 7089, 5890. 

539. If the Lodge refuses to grant a withdrawal card 
applied for, the applicant may tender a written resignation of 
membership ; he shall then be entitled to receive from the 
Secretary a certificate, under the seal of the Lodge, that he has 
resigned membership, as evidence of his good standing at that 
time. {^Sec. 540.) Sttb. Const., Art. ix, Sec. 3. 

540. A brother having resigned membership is entitled to a 
certificate. If under charges, his resignation cannot be accepted, 
and the trial must proceed. Certificates of resignation are not 
granted on vote of Lodge, but issued by the proper officers. No 
particular form being prescribed, a certificate should set forth, 
the fact that Bro. A, a member of such and such rank and 
degree in Lodge, No. of the I.O.O.F., of the State of 



ILLINOIS ODD-FELLOWS* CODE. 117 

Illinois, did at such a date resign his membership in the Order, 
being in good standing. 

541. A Lodge is not bound to accept a resignation of 
membership when there is known ground for charges against the 
brother offering it; but in that case measures must be taken to 
bring the charges immediately : otherwise, tTie resignation must 
be accepted. No further action is necessary on a resignation to 
which there is no objection than to have the fact entered on the 
record. 

542. The holder of a dismissal certificate regularly issued 
by a Lodge may deposit the same in any other Lodge, as the 
case may be, under such rules and upon such conditions as the 
jurisdiction in which it is offered for deposit may prescribe ; but 
he shall not be required to be in possession of the A.T.P.W., 
nor can he visit a Lodge by virtue of such certificate. 

Sov. By-law, Ai't. xiv ; Sov. 6613. 

543. Any person disqualified for membership under the 
fundamental law of the Order (as an Indian, Chinese, or Negro, 
by race ; or a woman, by sex) cannot be permitted to vis-it by 
card, however regularly initiated or accredited. Sov. 6977. 



CHAPTER XVI. 
Benefits and Relief. 

544. Fundamental Principles.-^ It is a fundamental prin- 
ciple in Odd-Fellowship that a l^rother in arrears for dues, who 
is not dropped, is entitled to be visited by the officers of his 
Lodge, and to be cared for in sickness, although he may not be 
entitled to pecuniary benefits ; and any provision to the contrary 
in any constitution or by-laws is void. 

It is the moral duty of every Lodge to see that a brother in 
distress is attended to; and the Lodge or member that fails to 
attend to him is guilty of failure in duty. But methods of doing 
this duty and enforcement of it belong to local legislation. 

The payment of weekly benefits to sick members is the dis- 



118 ILLINOIS ODD-FELLOWS' CODE. 

tinguishing characteristic of our Order, and may be regarded as 
the fundamental principle of Odd-Fellowship, 

Sov. 8464-5,4391-2,4177. 
The payment of merely nominal benefits is not in accordance 
with the law or spirit of Odd-Fellowship : it is obligatory upon 
every Lodge to pay as benefits a reasonable sum. 

545. In the payment of sick and funeral benefits and 
expenses Subordinate Lodges are sovereign, both as to amount 
and disposition of them, under the laws of their Grand Bodies 
and the charitable principles of the Order. State authorities, or, 
if tJiey^o not act, subordinates, prescribe when benefits are to 
be given. A state Grand Body may say that no brother shall 
be entitled to receive benefits until .he shall have attained the 
Third Degree, or that initiates shall be entitled to benefits from 
the night of initiation ; that card members shall be entitled to 
benefits at once, or that they shall not be entitled to benefits 
until they have been members for six months or more after 
depositing their cards ; that members who have fallen more than 
thirteen weeks in arrears shall be entitled to benefits immediately 
upon paying up in full, or only after the expiration of some 
further time fixed in the laws as a penalty. 

Sov. 3685, 2807, 5280, 5919, 7505. 

546. A Lodge must fix in its by-laws some certain and 
uniform rate of benefits, conformed to the constitution [Sec. 547) ; 
and when the rate is settled by such by-law, the right to claim 
benefits is one possessed by every member of the Lodge when 
duly qualified otherwise as required by law, without regard to 
either the amount or source of his income or nature of his occu- 
pation ; and the duty to pay the said allowance is the same in 
all cases. [A member is entitled to pecuniary benefits while 
sick and unable to attend to his ordinary avocation, although he 
may have an income sufficient for his support. — Sov. 6350.] It 
is not legal for a Lodge to suspend the payment of sick or 
funeral benefits for any purpose or any length of time, or to 
strike from its laws all provisions for payment of benefits. 

547. Every beneficiary member of this Lodge, in case of 
sickness or disability not caused by vice or immorality on his 
part, shall be entitled to and receive from the funds of the Lodge 
such weekly benefits as may be fixed by the by-laws, not less 
than three dollars a week if of the Third Degree, nor less than 



ILLINOIS ODD-FELLOWS' CODE. 119 

two dollars if of a lower degree. But no sick benefits shall be 
allowed for less than a week's sickness, or for the fractional part 
of a week. Sub, Const. ^ Art. x, Sec. 8. 

548. A beneficiary member shall be any one who has 
been for six months a member by initiation of this Lodge (or of 
the Order, if admitted to membership in this Lodge upon an 
unexpired withdrawal card), as an Ancient Odd-Fellow, or by 
reinstatement after dropping or expulsion ; who is under no 
complaint or charges of misconduct; and who is not more than 
thirteen weeks in arrears for dues. A member reinstated after 
suspension for cause shall be beneficiary immediately upon 
reinstatement, subject to the provisions herein in relation to 
dues ; provided, however, that this Lodge, by proper by-law, 
may enact that, if a member shall become non-beneficiary by 
reason of being more than thirteen weeks in arrears for dues, 
he shall, before he can become beneficiary, pay all arrears for 
dues, assessments and fines ; and such by-law may further 
provide that, as a penalty, such non-beneficiary member shall 
not become beneficiary for a period subsequent to such payment 
not exceeding thirteen weeks. Stib. Const., Art. x, Sec. 7. 

There is much confusion regarding the use of the terms ''beneficial," 
"non-beneficial," "beneficiary" and "non-beneficiary." Formerly a 
"beneficial" member was entitled to benefits. in case of sickness ; one not 
" beneficial," a member not entitled to benefits when sick, on account of 
some disability, and in that sense it is used in the Fifth Illinois Digest, and 
Journals. In 1870 the S.G.L. created a new kind of membership, called 
"non-beneficial" {Sec. 428). From this time confusion began. To avoid 
this, our new Constitution for Subordinates uses "beneficiary" instead of 
" beneficial.^ The terms as now used may be defined as follows : 

(i) A "non-beneficial" member is one who cannot under any circum- 
stances receive benefits {Sec. 428), and who joins the Lodge as such non- 
beneficial member. 

(2) A "beneficial" member may or may not be entitled to receive bene- 
fits, contingent upon his good standing, etc. etc. When entitled to benefits, 
he is a " beneficiary" member (see ConstiUdion, Art. X, Sec. 7) ; when not 
entitled to benefits, for any reason, he is "non-beneficiary"; that is, "bene- 
ficial " members are divided into two classes, " beneficiary" and those " not 
beneficiary." Under Art. X, Sec. 7 {Sec. 548), an initiate is a " beneficial " 
member and pays the regular dues, but he becomes "beneficiary" only 
when six months a member. Briefly, a beneficiary is one who is actually 
entitled to benefits if he should be taken sick : a beneficial member is any 
,one who is not admitted to the Lodge as non-beneficial under Sec. 426, 
Sub. Const. II, Art. 4. 

549. A Lodge may not provide in its by-laws that members 
shall attain one or more of the degrees before becoming entitled 
to benefits. It may provide that a member whose account is kept 



120 ILLINOIS ODD-FELLOtV^' CODE. 

paid up promptly shall receive larger benefits than one who is 
delinquent in that respect. If the by-laws have not provided 
rates of benefits except for members of the Third Degree, the 
Lodge must allow a beneficiary of lower grade at least the 
minimum named in the constitution {Sec. 547). Nor may the 
Lodge require attendance at its meetings as a condition of benefits. 

550. Unless the laws of its Grand Lodge forbid, a Lodge 
may give benefits at a certain rate until the beneficiary has 
received a certain sum, and thereafter may give them at a lower 
rate ; or the Lodge may give benefits at the first rate for a certain 
time, and thereafter at the second and lower rate. 

Sov. 8329, 8330, 8646. 

The cases considered by the S.G.L. were these : A Lodge gave ^10 a 
week until a member had received ^1,000, and thereafter it gave $2. a week; 
another gave ^5 a week for sixteen weeks, and fift^T^ cents a week thereafter. 
As the laws of Illinois stand now, for example, a Lodge may give $6 a week 
till a brother has received a certain sum, say $600, or for a certain time, say 
one hundred weeks, and then ^3 a week thereafter. 

551. A Lodge must pay its sick beneficiary members con- 
tinuous weekly benefits of some stipulated amount. A by-law 
limiting the number of weeks in any term or year during which 
it will pay benefits, and making it less than the whole number 
of weeks of the sickness, is opposed both to the spirit and to the 
letter of the laws of the Order. Sov. 6350, 7820, 8364. 

552. A Grand Master or a Grand Lodge cannot by dispen- 
sation authorize a Lodge to suspend the payment of weekly 
benefits. But whether a Lodge can retain its charter and 
continue to work after it has failed, by reason of an exhausted 
treasury, to pay weekly benefits to brothers entitled thereto, is 
subject for local legislation. Sov. 2^i^i. 

553. A Lodge may reduce its rates of benefits and enforce 
the by-law upon all, ivi eluding any brother who is receiving 
benefits at the time. Sov. 8330. 

554. A Lodge must not grant benefits to any one not 

legally qualified to claim them. A donation from the treasury 
may be granted to a sick brother as a charity, if he is not entitled, 
to benefits; but it cannot be given as benefits. 

555. A Lodge must allow benefits for each entire week of 
disability, but may refuse to pay benefits for sickness of the 
fractional part of a week. A Lodge must not count weeks by 



ILLINOIS ODD-FELLOWS' CODE. l2l 

the working days in claims for benefits; twelve working days 
are not two weeks. Parts of days are not recognized; if a 
brother is sick on any day, that day is to be counted as a sick 
day. Sov. 2791, 7057. 

556. A Lodge cannot enact a by-law providing for the 
payment of half benefits, unless the benefits provided by its 
by-law^s are at least double the sum fixed as the minimum rate 
of benefits in the constitution. {^Sec. 547.) 

See note to Sec. 550. 

557. A brother to whom a withdrawal card has been voted 
has thereafter no claim for benefits upon his former Lodge; nor 
can he obtain such claim by paying his dues in advance beyond 
the date of his withdrawal and then receiving the card. And 
when the holder of a withdrawal card deposits it for member- 
ship in a Lodge, his right to benefits there depends upon its laws. 

Sov.i^i^, 1200, 1249, 1492. 

558. A member of a Lodge may decline to receive benefits 
which are due him; and such act is a donation by him to the 
Lodge of the amount. If the Lodge accepts his donation, he 
is, in the absence of local law to the contrary, forever de'barred 
from future claim for said benefits. Sov. 8343. 

559. A member is entitled to benefits if he is beneficiary 
when taken sick, even though during the first week of sickness 
his arrears should rise to an amount which would cut him off 
from benefits. Sov. 8344. 

560. A member does not cease to be beneficiary until he 
owes dues accruing during fourteen weeks. 

The reason is this : he is not cut off from benefits unless he owes more 
than thirteen weeks' dues (.9^^.548); and "more than thirteen weeks' 
dues," according to Sec. 436, means fourteen weeks' dues. 

561. A member who is debarred from benefits by the non- 
payment of dues cannot by paying his dues entitle himself to 
benefits during a sickness commencing before the dues are paid, 
even though the by-laws of his Lodge may provide that " every 
member," etc., "against whom there is no charge shall be en- 
titled to benefits." Sov. 13 18, 2859. 

562. A member who is to become beneficiary in due course 
of law and lapse of time on a certain day falls sick before that 
day, remaining sick until after that day; in that case he is 



122 ILLINOIS ODD-FELLOWS' CODE, 

entitled to benefits during that illness from the day when he 
became legally beneficiary. 

563. A member does not become in arrears to his Lodge so 
as to be deprived of benefits so long as the Lodge is indebted to 
him for unpaid benefits, even if of unsettled amount, provided 
these cover his arrears so far as to make him beneficiary {^Sec. 
769). Nor can he become in arrears while under the care of 
the Lodge, as the Lodge must see that he receives his benefits, 
deducting the amount of his dues. Sov. 1634, 2291, 2700. 

564. A member may not claim benefits — 

(i) If he is a non-beneficial member. [Sees. 425, 428.) 

(2) If he is more than thirteen weeks in arrears when taken 
sick [See. 561). He may not claim to be exempt from this rule 
on the ground that he was wrongly charged with a fine or 
assessment which he had paid without objection when settling 
his account [Sov. 5954.); nor on the ground that he sent in his 
dues by a brother who failed to pay them. 

(3) For age and indigence merely. Sov. 8069. 

(4) If he is placed in quarantine, but not sick. Sov. 8534. 

(5) If his sickness is caused by vice or immorality or breach 
of the laws of the state. 

(6) If he has renounced the Order : his claim ceases for all 
time after the renunciation. Sov. 6612, 6690. 

(7) If the by-laws require notice sent to the Lodge or Visiting 
Committee, and he has not used reasonable diligence to give 
notice. [See. 571.) 

(8) If he has allowed himself to be reported "out of care," 
and has made no further claim for attention. Sov. 3360. 

(9) If he has donated to the Lodge the benefits claimed by 
declining to receive them. [See. 558.) 

(10) If the disability is his being crippled; and deliberately 
and finally, after due time for consideration, he refuses to allow 
such operation, not dangerous, as is necessary to remove his 
disability, when advised by competent surgical authority; 
provided the Lodge shall first, and for a reasonable time, have 
forewarned him that refusal will stop benefits. 

Note to Clause 5. In the Bartlirig case, it was held that, though a Lodge 
may, perhaps, refuse benejfits after death caused by immorality into which it 
had no opportunity to inquire, it may not refuse them when it has waived its 
rights by needlessly neglecting to inquire and bring charges {Sov. 5541). If 
a brother is disabled by accidental discharge of a concealed weapon which he 
is carrying, contrary to the laws of the land, he is not entitled to benefits for 



ILLINOIS ODD-FELLOWS' CODE. 123 

such disability. But in a case in which a brother was killed in an unpremedi- 
tated fight, in which he struck the first blow, provoked by the altercation, 
it was decided that his death was not caused by vice or immorality, within 
the meaning of the law which uses those words, and that the Lodge must 
pay the funeral benefit and the regular allowance to his widow provided by 
its by-laws. 

565. A Lodge may not refuse benefits in the following 
decided cases : 

(i) To a brother who is legally entitled to them and has 
properly applied for them. If in any case a Lodge continues to 
refuse benefits when due, any brother aggrieved may report the 
case to the Grand Lodge. 

(2) To a brother resident in a foreign country, if otherwise 
entitled to them at the time of his illness. 

(3) To a lunatic brother: he should have the sa,me benefits 
as are given to those suffering from bodily infirmity. [Sov. 2138, 
8535). If a beneficiary member becomes insane, having no 
family or dependent relatives, his benefits are not to be paid to 
any guardian or conservator : the officers of his Lodge must see 
them properly used for his benefit, keeping any balance in trust 
for him, to be paid to him if he recovers. 

(4) To brothers residing in a hazardous climate, if otherwise 
entitled : change of residence does not affect right to benefits 
i^Sov. 1739, 1886, 7401) ; and right to benefits is not impaired 
by a hazardous chaifge of occupation ; for example, becoming a 
soldier. 

(5) To brothers in the army or service of the United States, 
if otherwise entitled, upon due proof; nor to brothers diseased 
or disabled by service in the army or navy. 

(6) To the family of a brother in good standing v/ho has 
committed suicide. Sov. 807. 

(7) To a member who holds a valid visiting card {^Sec. 579), 
with indorsement of qualification : the card is prima-facie 
evidence that the brother is entitled to benefits ; and if no fraud 
on his part be shown, the Lodge may not allege on its own 
evidence that he was really in arrears when he took the card : 
the neglect of the Lodge or its officers to collect the dues will 
not cut off the claim. The prima-facie evidence of the card may 
be overcome by acknowledgment on the part of the brother 
holding it that he was indebted and not entitled to benefits. 

Sov. 3120, 3251. 

(8) To the family of a brother deceased against whom no 
charge was brought during his life, upon charges or allegations 



124 ILLINOIS ODD-PELLOWS' CODE. 

brought after his death, except charges of fraudulent misrepre- 
sentation of age made to obtain admission into the Order. 
{Sec. 569 and Sec. 564 CI. 5). 

Sov. 3122, 3564, 3588; 3601, 3679. 

(9) To a brother otherwise entitled not under charges for 
fraud, but who is indebted to the Lodge for money loaned on a 
note with security ; the remedy of the Lodge is in a suit at law. 

(10) To a Secretary or other member, otherwise entitled, who 
is indebted to his Lodge for any sum of money other than his 
dues. (67. 16, below.) 

(11) To a member otherwise entitled, but under charges, 
unless the charges bear upon the right to benefits [Sec. 735). 
If he dies in these circumstances, all benefits are due to his 
widow or family. Sov. 2132, 7762. 

(12) To a member otherwise entitled whose term of suspen- 
sion for conduct unbecoming has expired. Sov. 3836, 8715. 

(13) To a brother wlio is in arrears because misinformed by 
the Secretary as to the amount due from him. 

(14) To a brother in arrears, to whom the Lodge still owes 
previous benefits [Sec. 563) enough to pay the arrears on account, 
or make him beneficial. If an order for such benefits has been 
passed but not delivered, the Lodge is still indebted. 

(15) To a brother otherwise beneficial because he has entered 
an alms-house, or has become a charge upoti the public against 
the wish of the Lodge. Sov. 3466. 

(16) A Lodge may not make deprivation of benefits a 
penalty for offense, nor inflict that disability for anything but 
non-payment of dues. 

566. If a Lodge gives a visiting card in place of a with- 
drawal card by mistake, and another Lodge gives relief thereon, 
the Lodge issuing the card must pay the amount warranted by 
the card. 

567. When benefits have been withheld through mistake 
as to facts or law, and the error is ascertained, the benefits must 
pass to the credit of the member, or be paid to him or his family; 
and any suspension, disability or disqualification arising from 
the error and its consequences must be revoked or set aside. 

Sov. 2790,-2808. 

568. If a Lodge is of opinion that a brother's sickness or 
disability is caused by immoral conduct, it may refuse him 



ILLINOIS ODD-FELLOWS' CODE. 125 

benefits, after hearing him in defense of his claim, without any 
charges for such misconduct. If the case requires charges, they 
may follow the refusal. Sov. 5838. 

569. If a person joining a Lodge fraudulently misrepre- 
sents his age, and thereby gains admission illegally, or for a less 
consideration than the law of the Lodge requires, then that body 
is discharged from any and all responsibilities growing out of 
such admission, from and after the time, when the fraud is dis- 
covered and proved upon a fair investigation and competent 
testimony. It is legal to investigate and determine such fraud 
even after the death of the party concerned, provided due notice 
of the investigation be given to the family or representatives of 
the deceased who claim benefits. Sov. 3601, 3679. 

570. When a beneficiary is sick beyond the care of his own 
Lodge, that body may require evidence of sickness, as the cer- 
tificate of a respectable physician or of a magistrate ; but it may 
not require of him an affidavit, nor the return of his indorsed 
card as part of the evidence. 

571. A Lodge may require, as a condition of receiving 
benefits, that a brother living near the Lodge shall report sickness 
to the Lodge, its officers, or the Visiting Committee, and that he 
shall use due diligence to make such report. Sov. 8643. 

Brother A.B. was member of a Lodge which had a clause in its by-laws 
to allow not more than one week's benefit prior to notice of sickness given to 
the Lodge officers or committee. He was taken sick May 2, and ten days 
later (May 12) his arrears were sufficient to debar him from benefits. He 
was reported sick to the Lodge by the committee May 21, having given 
notice to them during the previous week. Decided, That as he failed to 
report himself until after he was cut off from benefits by delinquency, he 
was not entitled to benefits. 

572. If a brother fails to send notice under the law which 
is allowed by the preceding section, such failure will not invali- 
date his claim to benefits in cases in which from the nature of 
his disability it is not possible or not reasonably to be expected 
that he should send such notice. Sov. 2621, 3470. 

573. The notice of sickness required to be given (Sec. 
571) by a brother maybe given in open Lodge, or to the N.G., 
or to the V.G., or to the Visiting Committee. 

574. It is legal and proper to pay benefits due to a sick brother 
to his wife during his sickness, if she is a member of his 
family. 



126 • ILLINOIS ODD-FELLOWS' CODE, 

575. A Noble Grand must sign an order for benefits which 
has been passed by the Lodge, even though an appeal against 
the action of the Lodge is taken, unless a stay of proceedings is 
granted in legal manner. [Sec. 329.) Sov. 7375. 

576. When a Lodge has refused a claim for benefits, any 
appeal from such decision must be taken within the time (three 
months in Illinois, Sec. 791) allowed for the institution of other 
appeals. An abandoned claim after that time may not be 
revived. Sov. ZZ"^-^^ 5923-4- 

577. A brother having made a claim on his Lodge for 
benefits, but subsequently appealing from its decision, finding 
himself, through ignorance of the law or other cause, to have 
erred in stating the amount of his claim before his subordinate, 
has the right to state his claim in corrected form before a superior 
body on appeal, and to claim all that was his due. Sov. 2791. 

In Illinois, new evidence cannot be introduced on appeal : unless the 
evidence adduced before the Lodge sustains the amended claim, the addi- 
tional claim will not be sustained. — See the Practical Codes on Benefits and 
Appeals. 

578. So far as a Lodge binds itself for benefits to its 
members by its by-laws, so far it is bound and no further, when 
the same are paid or rendered, as pecuniary or attentive, by 
another Lodge. And any excess, in money or services, creates 
no legal obligation ; and the claim therefor by the Lodge paying 
the money or performing the services, on account of a transient 
or visiting brother, cannot be enforced against his Lodge. 

Sov. 



Under Sec. 578 it has been decided that if a Lodge provides by its by-laws 
for the payment of watchers to attend its sick, and requests another Lodge 
to take care of a sick member away from home, the latter Lodge may employ 
watchers at the same rate, and his Lodg<i must pay the expense. Under 
whatever circumstances a Lodge provides for the payment of a nurse for its 
members, under the same it must pay for a member who is under the care 
of another Lodge ; but its by-laws may provide a nurse shall be employed 
only when he is within reach of his Lodge. Sov. 8054, 8341-2, 8702. 

579. Upon the issue of a visiting card, the amount of 
weekly and funeral benefits allowed by the by-laws of the Lodge 
to the holder thereof must be carefully entered thereon ; and the 
body issuing the card is bound for any relief extended to the 
holder of the card, to the extent of the benefits so indorsed or 
entered on the card. (See also Sec. 511.) And when a Subor- 
dinate Lodge or General Relief Committee is applied to for 



ILLINOIS ODD-FELLOWS' CODE. 127 

relief by a brother holding a card, such Lodge or General Relief 
Committee shall require the certificate of a respectable physician, 
showing the time that the brother has been sick, and shall take a 
draft upon his Lodge for whatever amount he may have received, 
which, with the certificate, shall be forwarded for payment: 
Provided, that in the event of the death of a brother, and his 
being buried by a Lodge, or General Relief Committee, it shall 
only be necessary to forward the physician's certificate, or that 
of some other respectable citizen, together with his card and a 
proper voucher for the amount so advanced. Payment of the 
same shall in all cases be promptly ma'de. Sov. 215 1. 

Case under Sec. 579. — A brother holding an unexpired visiting card made 
appHcation by letter for a withdrawal card. Meanwhile he was taken sick 
and received benefits. The Lodge, before hearing of this, granted him a 
withdrawal card on condition that he pay some assessments due on the 
books. Decided, The Lodge is liable for the benefits to the Lodge that gave 
them ; the Lodge had no right to grant the withdrawal card while the assess- 
ments were due ; and it should have demanded the return of the visiting card 
before granting the other. 

580. The certificate of a General Relief Committee under 
its seal is sufficient evidence that the committee has complied 
with the law in the payment of benefits on a visiting card; and 
Lodges must pay such claims without further evidence. 

581. A Lodge, giving relief to any one without an order 
from a Lodge, unless the same is paid for sick benefits warranted 
by a card, cannot demand or claim that the relief be refunded as 
benefits. Sov. 7059. 

582. A Lodge is not responsible for money fraudulently 
obtained by one of its members from another Lodge. Sov. 2826. 

583. In case of the death of an unsuspended member of 
this Lodge, there shall be allowed not less than twenty dollars 
as a funeral benefit, and such further sum as may be necessary to 
defray reasonable funeral expenses ; provided, however, that in 
case the Lodge shall have expended money for funeral expenses 
with the consent of the family, then it may apply the funeral 
benefit toward the funeral expenses. Stib. Const., Art. x, Sec. 9. 

584. A Lodge may adopt a sliding or graduated scale of 
funeral benefits, according to advancement in the Order. 

585. There is a distinction between funeral benefits and 
funeral expenses. The funeral benefit should go to the family 
of the deceased, whether they incurred any expense in the 



128 ILLINOIS ODD-FELLOWS' CODE. 

burial or not ; but any provision made by a Lodge for funeral 
expenses will require payment only when actual expense is 
incurred. When a brother holding a visiting card dies away 
from home, and is buried by a Lodge, that Lodge can recover 
from his Lodge the amount of funeral expenses, at least to the 
amount authorized by the face of the card. 

S07'. 2I5I, 2813,2957, 3566. 

In the Cohen case {Sov. 7428), the decision sustained a lo'cal law con- 
trary to this general principle. 

586. Every member not suspended for cause, nor dropped 
for N.P.D., IS entitled to funeral benefits, which may be applied 
toward payment of '• funeral expenses" only as provided in the 
Constitution, Art. x. Sec. 9 [Sec. 583). Such benefit as the by- 
laws prescribe and necessary funeral expenses must be paid, 
regardless of the length of time the brother has been a member 
and the amount of arrearages against him. Non-beneficial 
members [Sec. 428) are excluded from the provisions of this law. 

587. The funeral benefit is to be paid to the family ; or, if 
that be divided, then to the party having care of the deceased 
and incurring the expenses of the funeral. 

588. Reasonable funeral expenses are the expenses 
incurred in preparing the body for burial and its removal to the 
place of burial, the preparation of the grave and the proper 
disposal of the body therein. But in funeral expenses are not 
included the hire of means of conveying brothers of the Order 
to the place of interment. It is the duty of a brother to attend 
the funeral of a deceased brother when informed of the funeral, 
and if an expenditure of money is necessary to do this duty he 
must make the expenditure, and cannot charge it to the Lodge 
as apart of the funeral expenses; but a Lodge may, by vote, 
authorize the employment of carriages or railroad cars to convey 
the members of the Lodge to the place of interment within the 
jurisdiction of the Lodge having charge of the funeral, or to a 
burial place of the community in which the Lodge is located, 
and pay the expenses thereof out of a special fund provided 
therefor, or out of the general fund as one of the necessary 
expenses of a Lodge, recognized and authorized by the laws of 
the Order ; but this expense cannot be charged against the 
Lodge of the deceased brother as one of the funeral expenses, 
nor, even with the consent of the family, be taken from the 
funeral benefit. 



ILLINOIS ODD-FELLOWS' CODE. 129 

589. The right of property in funeral benefits is in the 
family of a deceasing brother, and not in him. It does not 
exist until after his death; and therefore no disposition of such 
a benefit can be made by him in his lifetime, by assignment, 
devise, or in any other way. Sov. 2957. 

590. A Lodge can withhold funeral benefits when it can 
be clearly proved that the death was caused by vice or immo- 
rality of the deceased; and such proof can be brought after his 
death. Sec. 564, CI. 5, and note ; Sec. 569. 

591. Funeral expenses cannot be recovered when the 
Lodge has paid them by mistake, or in ignorance of the circum- 
stances. 

592. No benefits but those provided for in the Constitution 
may be granted : a Lodge may make a do7iation to a brother in 
need on the death of his wife, but not a benefit by by-law. 

593. A Lodge cannot make from its general fund a dona-^ 
tion to pay funeral expenses of a former member who died an 
object of charity ; nor can a Grand Master authorize the donation 
by dispensation. (See Sec. 554.) 

594. If the family of the deceased brother inform the officers 
of the Lodge that they do not wish the Lodge to perform the 
funeral services, nor attend the funeral except as citizens, the 
Lodge need not pay the funeral expenses. And if a Lodge is 
ready to give the deceased burial, and consults with friends and 
relatives and the Encampment as to the management and 
expense of the funeral, and after this, these parties, without 
consent of the Lodge, take the management and control of the 
funeral and bury the brother, then the Lodge is not liable for 
the funeral expense. 

In a case in which a Lodge provided a fixed sum for funeral expenses, the 
S.G.L. decided that it must pay that amount, though it had not made the 
arrangements for the funeral, nor attended it. Sov. 7815. 

595. There is no general law of oiu- Order requiring a 
Lodge to pay to the widow of a deceased brother any specific 
annuity. Lodges should, in such cases, be governed by the 
necessities of the recipient and their own ability, and their 
by-laws; and a change in the by-law while any regular pay- 
ment is going on may change the amount to be paid. Drafts 
for the benefit of widows and orphans are not benefits under 
our laws. 

10 



130 ILLINOIS ODD-FELLOWS' CODE. 

Case and Decision. — A Lodge made donation to a brother's widow, with- 
out law for such appropriation. Action approved, since the Lodge had 
added its W. and O. fund to the general fund. 

596. The widow of a non-beneficial member is not entitled 
to a funeral benefit ; but she is entitled to the care and protec- 
tion of the brotherhood. 

597. If orphans are placed under proper protection by a 
Lodge, and the mother takes them away without consent of 
the Lodge, her act does not relieve the Lodge of all responsi- 
bility for the orphans. Sov. 7059, 7083. 

598. AVhen a brother ceases to be a beneficiary member, 
all benefits cease, incidental as well as direct, and after as well as 
before death. Hence, the widow of a suspended member is not 
entitled to receive any allowance from the Lodge ; and a Lodge 
cannot make a donation to her from its treasury, unless from a 
charity fund (^Sec. 593). 

599. " Legal representatives " (that is, the executor or 
administrator of the estate of a deceased brother, or remote rela- 
tives), have no claim upon the weekly or funeral benefits allowed 
for a brother. The only persons who are the beneficiaries of a 
funeral benefit are the widow, orphan or dependent relatives of 
the deceased; and dependent relatives are relatives who are 
members of the family of the deceased, and who were depend- 
ent upon the deceased. If he have no immediate family, 
widow, child or other immediate family relative, who was before 
his death dependent on him for support, then he has left no one 
who has a legitimate claim upon the Order. If he leaves a 
father, mother, brother, sister, or other indigent relative, who is 
a member of another family, and was not in the life-time of the 
deceased dependent upon him, such indigent relative has no 
lawful claim on the Lodge of the deceased, not having been a 
member of his family.' The Lodge should pay money due on 
account of the deceased brother to the proper beneficiaries 
directly, and never to the personal or legal representative, as 
such. Sov. 3120, 8189, 6564, 8210. 

The leading case on the question of rights of remaining relatives and 
representatives of a deceased brother is the '' Sangamon Lodge case," de- 
cided in 1859 ; Sov. 3118-3120; on an appeal from Sangamon Lodge, No. 6, 
from the Grand Lodge of Illinois. The case has been reaffirmed and the 
doctrine restated in later years ; see the passages cited, and denial of a 
rehearing, Sov 3251. 



ILLINOIS ODD-FELLOWS' CODE. 131 

600. A Lodge may not provide that its funeral benefit 
shall be a sum equal to the amount produced by a division of 
the invested funds ; such law provides for an illegal distribution 
{Sec. 476) of the funds. Sov. 8210. 

601. The term sickness implies that state of health which 
prevents one from attending to his ordinary vocation. But a 
brother who by infirmity has been disqualified for his usual 
labors, but is not thereby incapacitated from applying himself to 
other business so as to provide for his own support, is not entitled 
to benefits : however, an admission on the part of a brother that 
he is able to perform duty of some kind, if found for him, is no 
proof that he is able to gain a livelihood. The brother having 
shown sickness which prevents him from following his usual 
vocation, if the Lodge claims that he might follow some other 
business, whereby he might obtain a livelihood, the burden of 
proving this falls upon the Lodge. A brother who by sickness 
or accident has become blind is prima facie entitled to benefits, 
though he is otherwise well. Sov. 2763, 2782, 3569, 8736. 

The determination whether a brother is so far sick as to be entitled to 
benefits is sometimes difficult, and has frequently been a question in appeals 
to the S.G.L. The following cases are to be noted: i. A brother was 
injured beyond help of surgery or medicine ; his wife used a sewing machine 
to earn support of the family ; occasionally he ran the machine for her. 
Decided, that this work did not vitiate his claim for benefits. 2, A brother 
sick with consumption and receiving benefits attended bar for his uncle on 
three different days, not for pay, but to occupy his mind, as his physician 
advised ; and other light work he performed. Held, that he could not be 
deprived of benefits, 3. A brother subject to nervous disorder and sundry 
ailments was forbidden to follow his usual occupation, or to do anything 
requiring much physical exertion or causing exposure ; but his physician said 
that some light work would be advantageous to him. Held, that this opinion 
did not justify his Lodge in refusing benefits. Sov. 3822, 4874, 4896-7, 8645. 

602. A brother who is suffering with a chronic complaint, 
but is yet able to go to his place of business, superintend it, and 
participate in it to a degree, is prima facie not entitled to 
benefits as a sick brother, although this presumption may be 
rebutted by positive evidence: the Subordinate Lodge to which 
a brother belongs, in whose neighborhood he resides, who are 
acquainted with the witnesses produced, and under whose direc- 
tion the testimony is taken, are the best judges of the weight of 
such testimony. Sov. 2471. 

603. The Visiting Committee shall consist of the Noble 
Grand, the Vice Grand and the Junior Past Grand. They shall 
keep themselves informed at all times as to the condition of a 



132 ILLINOIS ODD-FELLOWS' CODE, 

brother who has been reported sick; they shall report to the 
Lodge what benefits he is entitled to ; and they shall provide for 
his care and watch, as his case may require. If a member of 
another Lodge be sick and apply to this Lodge for relief, his 
case shall be referred to the Visiting Committee as if he v/ere a 
member of this Lodge ; and if he be entitled to receive benefits 
from his own Lodge, this Lodge shall advance the sum thus due 
him, and forward an account of the same to his Lodge without 
delay. The Lodge may by by-law add to the number of this 
committee, and prescribe more specific details of their duty. 

Stib. Const., Ai't. iv, Sec. 3. 

604. Watching with a sick brother is one of the sacred 
duties of an Odd-Fellow; but if the sick brother suffers with a 
contagious disease, the Lodge may provide a watcher and pay 
him out of the general fund. The Lodge may, at its discretion, 
in other cases, employ professional nurses; and may provide in 
its by-laws for an assessment to pay for the watching service 
generally. 

605. A Lodge must not only pay legal benefits and pro- 
vide watchers, when needed i^Sec, 604), but must render extra- 
ordinary assistance if a brother be destitute or in circumstances 
of distress. If the Lodge, recognizing such special duty and 
in performance thereof, provide care by day, medicine, physician, 
or other aid, it may not offset the sum so expended against the 
legal claim for benefits, unless in pursuance of the by-laws of 
the Lodge, or by consent of the brother thereto. 

606. A member who has been legally notified to watch with 
a sick brother must render this service, unless prevented by the 
sickness of himself or family, or excused by the proper authority ; 
except that a practicing physician may be regularly exempted. 
No written notice is required from the Visiting Committee to 
watch with a sick brother; any notice received from the said 
committee should be sufficient. 

607. A non-beneficial member is entitled to watchers 
w^hen sick : the Visitmg Committee should take care of him. 

608. The Sovereign Grand Lodge commends the great 
work of the General Relief Associations, instituted by members 
of this Order, to the fostering care of the several State Grand 
Jurisdictions, and recommends such action as may induce each 



ILLINOIS ODD-FELLOWS' CODE. 133 

jurisdiction to make ample provision for compensating other 
jurisdictions for expenses paid and costs incurred in the relief of 
brothers in distress, who claim the same under a visiting card, 
as brothers in good standing. Sov. 6198. 



CHAPTER XVII. 
Jurisdiction, and Offenses. 

609. If any member of this Lodge shall be found guilty of 
conduct contrary to the laws of the Order, or in violation of its 
principles as set forth in its lectures, charges and obligations, or 
shall be found guilty of any dishonest or immoral act or practice, 
injurious to himself, his family, or to society, or by which the 
Order may be scandalized, he shall be subjected to such penalty 
as the laws of this jurisdiction or the discretion of the Lodge 
may prescribe. [The law requiring action of the Lodge ii>such 
cases, see in Sec. 201 above.] Sub. Const., Art. vii, Sec. 2. 

610. A Grand Lodge has no power to appoint a committee 
of its body to try a brother of a vSubordinate Lodge. It may, 
however, order a Subordinate Lodge to try a member ; and such 
order the subordinate must obey. A brother cannot be pun- 
ished by reprimand, suspension or expulsion, except upon 
conviction by his own Lodge or Encampment upon charges. 

Sov. 4993, 5486, 5528. 

611. One Lodge cannot try a member of another Lodge, 
nor exclude him from fellowship, nor pass a vote of censure 
upon him. No brother can be punished by any other than his 
own Lodge or the Grand Lodge. 

612. The only proper course for a Lodge or member to 
pursue, in cases where members of other Lodges are regarded as 
unworthy, is to prefer charges against them in pursuance of the 
laws of the Order, or to report their misconduct to their Lodges. 

Soz'. 1723, 2759. 

613. If a brother who is a Patriarch has committed an 
offense, a charge should be brought against him in his Lodge 
rather than in his Encampment. Sov. 4467, 4992. 



134 ILLINOIS ODD-FELLOWS' CODE. 

614. A member of the Order cannot be disciplined by his 
Lodge for acts done before he became an Odd- Fellow ; but he 
may be tried by his Lodge for offenses committed after he 
became an Odd-Fellow but before he joined that Lodge. 

615. If an unworthy person is initiated, he can be expelled 
only after trial upon legal charges ; his initiation cannot be 
made void. If he was guilty of fraud in obtaining membership, 
by misrepresenting his age or otherwise, he can be punished 
therefor. Sov. 1475, 2146, 3601, 3679. 

616. A Lodge granting a withdrawal card has jurisdiction 
for one year over the brother holding it, and should discipline 
him for immoral conduct; if, however, within the year, and 
before discipline is begun by his Lodge, he joins another Lodge, 
the first-named Lodge has no jurisdiction over him. After the 
lapse of one year from the granting of a card, the holder is 
beyond the jurisdiction of the Order if he has not deposited it. 

Sov. 1722,3030, 1401, 1476. 

617. Members under suspension are under the jurisdic- 
tion 0/ the Lodge, and liable to further punishment for miscon- 
duct during suspension {Sec. 732). When a member has been 
dropped for non-payment of dues, his connection with the Lodge 
is not entirely severed, and he is still under its jurisdiction; 
charges can be preferred against him, and he can be tried and 
punished. If charges were pending against him at the time of 
dropping, the trial must proceed. It is not only the right but 
the duty of Lodges to try and expel any dropped members who 
have become notoriously disreputable. 

Dropping for N P.D., in Illinois, takes the place of indefinite suspension 
for N.P.D., and such dropped persons stand in the same relation to the 
jurisdiction of the Lodge as under former laws or general laws persons 
stood when suspended for N.P.D, This appears in the enactment of the 
S.G.L, in 1870 on non-payment, wherein the words ''suspended or dropped" 
are used several times, evidently as equivalent terms ; and " suspension" is 
used to refer to the action of the Lodge which has before been expressed 
by " suspended or dropped." 

618. The appointment of a committee to investigate 
rumors regarding the conduct of a brother in good standing, 
contrary, to his wishes and prior to information against him, 
according to law is illegal. . Sov. 8331. 

619. An ex-parte examination of the conduct of a brother 
is allowable when demanded by the party interested, or by a 
friend authorized by him. 



ILLINOIS ODD-FELLOWS' CODE. 135 

620. The following named acts are recognized by special 
enactments and decisions, or by general laws, as offenses for 
which an Odd-Fellow is liable to penalty : 

( 1 ) Conduct unbecoming an Odd-Fellow, which may \i^, firsts 
any crime, vice or immorality injurious to the member himself, 
to his family, or to society, or by which the Order may be scandal- 
ized ; or second, any violation of the principles of the Order or 
of its special obligations. [Sec. 609.) 

(2) Violation of the obligation of secrecy as to the work of 
the Order or the private business of a Lodge. 

(3) Violating the secrecy of a ballot. 

(4) Countenancing a spurious Lodge. (^Sec. 625.) 

(5) The use of unauthorized work. 

(6) Neglecting the sick of one's own or another Lodge : in 
either case the punishment must be the same. 

(7) Misrepresentation of age or other fraud in obtaining mem- 
bership. [Sees. 569, 615.) 

(8) Using in one's private business the name, title, mottoes, 
or emblems of the Order, or one's membership or official posi- 
tion therein. [See. 941.) 

(9) Publishing or circulating any unauthorized diplomla or 
certificate, or putting a Lodge seal thereon. [Sec. 624.) 

(10) Using for one's self money belonging to the Order with- 
out permission, or withholding it, even without fradulent intent. 
(^Sov. 7406.) 

(11) Resistance to the civil government ; opposing the execu- 
tion of law ; inciting or encouraging others to resist or oppose 
officers in the execution of their duty ; preventing citizens from 
aiding the government. 

(12) Electioneering for office in a Grand or Subordinate 
Lodge ; issuing or circulating any electioneering document. 

(13) Playing cards or gaming for pecuniary profit. 

(14) Drunkenness or intoxication. [Sec. 752.) 

(15) Contempt of a Lodge; which may be avoiding or fail- 
ing to obey its summons in case of trial [Sees. 660, 622), or 
refusing to submit to a penalty. 

(16) Malicious information or complaint against a brother 
[Sec. 641.) 

(17) Making or sharing in illegal distribution of the funds or 
other property of a Lodge. [Sec. 476.) 

(i8j Abusing the charitable disposition of the Order. [Sec. 
623.) 



136 ILLINOIS ODD-FELLOWS' CODE. 

(19) Profession of Atheism. [Sec, 621.) 

621. Belief in the existence of a Supreme Being is a 
prerequisite to admission to our Order ; and the subsequent 
denial of such a belief is one of the gravest offenses known to 
the Order, and subjects the offender to expulsion. 

622. ^A^hen a brother is legally summoned to attend a 
meeting of the Lodge on any matter over which the Lodge has 
jurisdiction, he should answer the summons : failing to do so, he 
is liable to charge of contempt ; and when charged with con- 
tempt, he should appear and answer, although he may think the 
Lodge has acted illegally in the premises. 

623. A member of the Order in good standing, evidenced 
by holding an unexpired visiting card, and having the A.T.P.W., 
and being in distress, or pretending so to be, and needing 
money, who shall ask for and receive from a Lodge or Encamp- 
ment, or a member thereof, a sum of money, under the assurance 
and promise that he will return or pay the same within a given 
time, or so soon as he returns home, but who shall neglect to do 
so after a reasonable time thereafter, without a satisfactory excuse 
being rendered, shall be deemed guilty of conduct unbecoming 
an Odd-Fellow ; and due notice of such facts having been 
officially communicated to his Lodge by the Lodge or Encamp- 
ment so loaning him the money, it shall be the duty of his 
Lodge to notify him of such indebtedness or loan, and to 
demand payment thereof; arid if he then refuse or neglect to 
pay the same, his Lodge shall cause charges to be preferred 
against him, try him, and if he is found guilty, and without 
sufficiently mitigating circumstances, it shall expel him from the 
Order. If there be such mitigating circumstances, then the 
Lodge shall impose such penalty as the Lodge may deem best. 
A member who acquires the term password improperly, and 
thereby obtains relief from a Lodge, is guilty of a double fraud : 
he should be required to refund the money, and be punished 
for the offense. Sov. 6310, 2826. 

624. State Grand Bodies are required to expel from their 
own membership, and Subordinate Lodges to expel from the 
Order, any member thereof who shall attach to any chart, certifi- 
cate, diploma, or other document, any copy or impression of the 
seal of the S.G.L., or of the seal of any Grand or Subordinate 
Lodge, of which he has not the official use and custody. The 



ILLINOIS ODD-FELLOWS' CODE. 13? 

above-named bodies must inflict the same penalty upon any 
member knowingly publishing or circulating any diploma or 
certificate, purporting to be by authority of the Order, which is 
not authorized by law. Sov. 4186. 

625. Any Lodge or brother who shall be concerned in 
organizing, or who shall countenance or support, or who shall 
knowingly visit any Lodge in the State of Illinois, purporting 
to be Odd-Fellows, and not possessing a legal, unreclaimed and 
valid charter, duly granted and presented or confirmed by this 
Grand Lodge, shall be deemed unworthy of fellowship; and 
such brother, upon satisfactory proof, shall be suspended or 
expelled, at the option of the Lodge of which he is a member; 
and any brother so suspended or expelled shall not be reinstated 
unless the Grand Lodge assents thereto ; nor shall any person 
who has been in membership in any spurious or illegal Lodge 
be received into any regular Lodge without the consent of the 
Grand Lodge. G.L. By-Law^ ArL ii^ Sec. 4. 

626. An officer of a Lodge, in addition to his liability to 
discipline as a member of the Lodge, is also liable to trial and 
penaky for official misconduct, or misconduct in his duties as an 
officer, the penalty for which depends upon local laws and the 
nature and degree of the offense. But if the official misconduct 
also impugns his character as a man and an Odd-Fellow, he is 
liable to separate trial and penalty, on charges regularly pre- 
ferred, for conduct unbecoming an Odd-Fellow. Sov. 131 8. 

627. The following acts are decided to be out of the juris- 
diction of a Lodge, for which it may not bring a member to trial 
or inflict a penalty or disability. 

(i) The departure of an officer from a Lodge during session, 
provided the departure does not involve neglect of duty. 
• (2) The taking of the books of the Permanent Secretary 
from the Lodge room for the purpose of posting them. 

(3) Tr}ang to pirevent the offering of a petition for membership, 
unless done maliciously or with fraud. 

(4) Opposing the election of a candidate. 

(5) Casting a black ball in a ballot. Neither the act nor its 
reasons or motives can be inquired into. No member of the 
Order may be required to give his reason for any vote he may 
cast {Sov. 2132). There is no law, rule or usage in our Order 
authorizing an inquiry into the conduct of a member for casting 



138 ILLINOIS ODD-FELLOWS' CODE. 

a black ball. It cannot even be demanded of him whether he 
has cast one. 

(6) Speaking openly of transactions and proceedings of a 
Lodge that are not private in their nature. 

(7) Voting for one's self m an election. Elections are by 
ballot; and no man's vote can be examined into. 

(8) The temperate use, and not abuse, of stimulating drinks, 
or intoxicating liquors : but intemperance is contrary to the 
cardinal principles of the Order. (See Sec. 752). Sov. 1503-4. 

(9) Failure of non-official members to attend the regular 
meetings. 

(10) Actions which are part of political controversies, gener- 
ally; but there may be exceptions. Sov. 1061. 

(11) The saying in debate that the report of a committee is 
false in its presentation of facts and in its conclusions. Such 
language is ground for charges only when uttered in malice. 

(12) Pecuniary transactions in which no intent to defraud is 
apparent. {Sec. 628.) • 

(13) Failure to pay one's dues to his Encampment. 

Note to clause 9. — The Sovereign G.L. said in 1854 that it has passed no 
law which forbids the imposition of fines for non-attendance of members in 
Subordinate Lodges ; but the spirit of the Order seems to be opposed to it. 
{Sov. 2215.) 

In 1855 the G.L. 111. struck from by-laws provisions that required attend- 
ance at Lodge as a condition of eligibility to degrees and to office, and of 
benefits. In 1864 it was decided that there was no law forbidding a Lodge 
to adopt a by-law which requires its members to attend at least one meeting 
in a quarter to be considered in " good standing"; but it is " emphatically" 
added that the spirit of the Order is against fines for non-attendance. But 
such a by-law would be improper for the reason that the S.G.L. has de- 
fined what good standing in the Order is ; and a subordinate cannot by its 
action give a different meaning to the term. But in 1878 the Grand Lodge 
of Illinois twice refused to allow by-law provisions for fining non-official 
members who fail to attend meetings. 

628. Pecuniary relations among brothers which are of a , 
civil nature, and do not entail public scandal on the Order, and 
controversies which involve property rights, and civil contracts, 
frequently involving, as they do, long, intricate and conflicting 
accounts, requiring close and patient scrutiny and impartial 
investigation, should always be submitted to the legal institutions 
of the land, and should not be brought into Eodges for arbitra- 
tion, nor as ground of charges, unless false pretense, fraud or 
dishonesty is involved in the transaction. 

Sov. 3252, 3263, 6614, 8077. 



ILLINOIS ODD-FELLOWS' CODE, 139 

629. A Lodge may not, by its by-laws, forbid its members to 
engage in the traffic in intoxicating drinks. It is not expedient 
for the Order to specify particular occupations as contrary to the 
principles of the Order, and hence to discipline members pursuing 
such business, but on the contrary, it is better to omit from the 
by-laws all specialties of this nature, and rely upon the general 
principles of the Order, punishing any brother who may be guilty 
of a violation of them. If any member of a Lodge enters into 
any occupation calculated to bring disgrace upon himself and the 
Order, a Lodge may discipline him for offense against the prin- 
ciples of the Order. {^Sec, 609.) The Grand Lodge should in 
any case sustain a Lodge in subjecting to its discipline any 
member pursuing any occupation or business which, in the 
opinion of the Lodge, injures the Lodge, damages its reputation, 
and scandalizes the Order in the place where the Lodge is 
located. 

In 1870 the G.L. and G.E. of Indiana asked the S.GL. to pass laws 
authorizing Grand Lodges to prohibit members of Lodges from engaging in 
the traffic in intoxicating hquors. The S.G.L. adopted a report that " it 
would be contrary to the spirit and policy of our institution to pass any law 
on the subject referred to, creating a new test of membership in the Osder." 
{Sov. 4794-5, 4836.) It had previously been held that " new principles by 
which the Order must be governed in their jurisdiction " could not be intro- 
duced by Subordinate Lodges; and therefore that a Lodge could not introduce 
" total abstinence " into its by-laws. {Sov. 1503-4.) 

In the G.L. 111. (1869) an appeal came up under the above section. R had 
been expelled for " violating the principles of the Order," on the specification 
" keeping a grog-shop, by which occupation he is injuring the Lodge, dam- 
aging its reputation, and scandalizing the Order in this place." The report 
of the Judiciary Committee was against the action of the Lodge ; but the 
Grand Lodge, by a strong majority, rejected the opinion of the committee, 
thus sustaining the right of a Lodge to guard its local reputation, as said in 
the section above. In another case the accused confessed to selling liquor 
contrary to city ordinances, but denied that it brought reproach on the 
Lodge : he was expelled, and the expulsion was sustained. — See ///. 1856, 47, 
55 a7id s^', IV, 315, 333; VI, 585 ; also, 1854, 10, 57; 1856, iii, 112. 

*** Other laws respecting offenses will be found in other chapters, in con- 
nection with the subjects to which prohibitions or violations of law relate, 
which may be found by the index. 



CHAPTER XVIII. 

Charges and Trials. 

630. The Sovereign Grand Lodge lays down the follow- 
ing as an outline of the principles and practice governing all 
trials in the Order : Charges clearly setting forth the offense should 
be preferred. A copy of these, duly attested, should be furnished 
to the defendant, together with a like duly-attested notice of 
the time and place of hearing. At such time, if by sickness or 
unavoidable occurrence the brother be prevented from appearing, 
this fact, on being shown, should give him a continuance of the 
case. That continuance ought to be to a day and place certain. 
At the hearing he must have the right, by himself or his coun- 
sel, to meet and cross-examine all witnesses. No testimony 
against him taken in his absence by any committee without 
notice to him should be received. His right to be heard by his 
witnesses, and by himself or his counsel, before condemnation, 
inheres in him as fully in Odd-Fellowship as before any other 
tribunal. Sov. 4149. 

631. It is the duty of a Lodge to investigate charges that 
may be brought, and to use every endeavor to arrive at the true 
state of facts, and to place the same on the record in an intelli- 
gible manner, so that an entire stranger to the facts can under- 
stand the merits of the case as well as the Lodge which acted 
thereon. The record must be full, complete and accurate. 

632. The by-laws of a Lodge have no occasion to make 
any provisions respecting charges and trials, and such provisions 
are of no force, the whole matter depending upon the constitu- 
tion. 

633. Discipline should never be referred to a committee of 
Past Grands, or to any part of the Lodge : it is the exclusive 
right and duty of the whole Lodge. 

634. All trials are held In the highest degree to which the 
accused has attained in the Lodge : the Lodge must be specially 
opened in that degree for the purpose, if he has not attained the 



ILLINOIS ODD-FELLOWS' CODE, 141 

Third Degree. In such lower degree, votes are to be taken 
viva voce [that is by aye and no\ or by division, or by ballot, 
as the local law may prescribe or allow : they are not to be 
taken by the voting sign. Ritual. 

635. In the trial of charges, where either party or his 
counsel does not understand the language in which proceedings 
are conducted, such party or counsel cannot be denied the time 
necessary for the interpretation to him of the proceedings as had, 
by interpreters qualified to be present. A member entitled 
to address remarks or a communication to any body of the 
Order, if he be unable to speak or write the language in which 
such body conducts its work, cannot be denied the right to 
make such address in English. Sov. 8189. 

636. Attorneys who are not Odd-Fellows cannot be 
admitted to Lodge rooms to defend brothers on charges. 

In one instance the S.G.L. reversed the action of a Lodge which had 
expelled a brother for contempt when he refused to remain in a trial because 
his counsel, who was an Odd-Fellow whose good standing was not denied, 
had been refused admittance when he presented himself without card or 
password. The S.G.L. held that he had been denied proper representation 
by counsel. Sov. 8367. 

637. Except in case of contempt, provided for in Sec. 
660, a Lodge can sever the connection of one of its members 
with itself only by sentence after fair trial upon charges. 

638. A member improperly admitted by card, without 
fraud on his part, may not be ejected or dismissed by return of 
his card. Sov. 3182, 3234. 

639. If any member of this Lodge shall have reason to 
believe that any other has been guilty of conduct unbecoming an 
Odd-Fellow, as shown in the preceding section [that is, pre- 
ceding in the Constitution; being Sec. 609 of this Code], it shall 
be his duty immediately to give notice of such violation or 
offense, in writing, to the Noble Grand. The Noble Grand shall 
forthwith refer a copy of such written communication (concealing 
the name of the informant) to a special committee of three mem- 
bers ; which committee shall proceed, without delay, to investi- 
gate the matter therein stated ; and if, in their opinion, there is 
just ground therefor, they shall, as early as practicable, prefer a 
charge or charges against the member so accused, specifying 
therein the particular matter of offense with which he is charged ; 



142 ILLINOIS ODD-FELLOWS' CODE. 

and the committee shall have charge of the prosecution on the 
part of the Lodge. Sub. Const., Art. vii. Sec. 3. 

640. If the holder of an unexpired withdrawal card is 
guilty of conduct unbecoming an Odd-Fellow, it is the duty of 
any member of the Lodge that granted the card, upon knowl- 
edge of such conduct, to file an information with the Noble 
Grand, as if the holder of the card were still a member of the 
Lodge. Such information is dealt with as if against a member 
of the Lodge. If the committee reports charges, the Lodge 
must forthwith annul the withdrawal card. {^Sec. 657). 

641. If any member of the Lodge shall make to the 
Noble Grand any accusation against a brother, under Sec. 3 of 
this Article (^Sec. 639), which shall be proved to be without 
reasonable grounds, or false and malicious, it shall be the duty 
of the Noble Grand to deliver up the name of the informant to 
the Lodge, on demand of a majority of the members thereof 
present, that he may be dealt with accordingly. 

Sub. Const., Art. vii, Sec. 17. 

642. The notice of offense given in writing [Sec. 639) to 
the Noble Grand, should contain a statement of the alleged 
offense, with the names of witnesses to substantiate the com- 
plaint, and be signed by the complainant. This paper and its 
contents are properly styled a complaint or infoi^mation, though 
they are sometimes erroneously called charges in the Journals. 

643. The name of an informant is, except in case of open 
information provided for in Sec. 646, a secret pertaining to the 
office of N.G. ; and should that officer retire from the chair 
during the pendency of an investigation or trial, by expiration of 
term or from any other cause, he should communicate that 
" secret " to his successor, in order that it may be officially 
delivered up to the Lodge should it be found necessary to prose- 
cute the informing brother for having made an unfounded, false 
and malicious accusation. A brother who has been tried and 
acquitted upon charges has no right to demand the name of an 
informant. The N.G. can give it up only on demand of a 
majority of members present, and for the constitutional reason 
only. ' 

644. A brother holding an unexpired withdrawal card may, 
during its currency, enter complaint against a member of his 



ILLINOIS ODD-FELLOWS' CODE. 143 

Lodge. In the absence of any local regulation upon the sub- 
ject, a member of one Subordinate Lodge desiring to prefer a 
charge or charges against a member or members of another 
Subordinate Lodge shall present such charge or charges in the 
usual form to the Subordinate Lodge of which he (the accuser) is 
a member : said Lodge shall forthwith forward to the Lodge to 
which the accused may belong a certified copy of the charge or 
charges, over the signatures of the N.G. and Secretary, and 
attested by the seal of the Lodge ; and the Lodge to which such 
charge or charges shall be sent shall proceed to hear and deter- 
mine the same, in like manner as if preferred by a member of its 
own body. Sov. 2561, 5195. 

645. A brother who is himself under charges may file a 
complaint. (See Sec. 735.) A brother who has deposited an 
information with the N.G. may not withdraw it unless entirely 
satisfied that the complaint is false. 

646. Any other Lodge in this jurisdiction, or a member of 
any other Lodge, if his own Lodge will forward his complaint 
attesting his good standing, or a member of this Lodge, may 
prefer an open complaint or information against any member of 
this Lodge; and such complaint shall be treated as complaints or 
informations mentioned in Sec. 3 of this Article (^Sec. 639) ; but 
the complaint shall be read in open Lodge, and the committee 
thereon there appointed. Sub. Const. ^ Art. vii^ Sec. 4. 

647. When charges are to be preferred against the Noble 
Grand of a Lodge, they must be placed in the hands of the Vice 
Grand ; and there is no reason why any brother may not prefer 
such charges. Sov. 4716. 

648. When a Noble Grand has been guilty of any offense 
against the laws of the Order, information thereof should be 
given to the V.G., who will privately appoint the Committee of 
Investigation provided for in Sec. 639. Should such committee 
prefer charges, the V.G. should take the chair and act as N.G., 
whenever the charges, or the trial, or any business relating to 
them, is before the Lodge. [See the next section.] 

649. An officer is not suspended from the performance of 
his duties during the pendency of charges against him, except so 
far as those duties may have a relation to the charges, such as 
the appointment of the whole or part of the committee to try 
them, or in acting upon the report. Sov. 5194. 



144 ILLINOIS ODD-FELLOWS' CODE. 

650. The complainant should not be placed on the com- 
mittee to investigate the complaint and bring charges. 

651. ^A^hen the Vice Grand appoints all or part of a Trial 
Committee, he should not place the Noble Grand thereon. 

Sov. 7023. 

The rule which the S.G.L. appHes to the Trial Committee must, in Illinois, 
apply to the Prosecuting Committee. This is a rule of expediency, because 
the N.G. is the executive officer of the Lodge. For the same reason, the 
V.G. should not be on the committee, as he may be called on to preside. If 
the membership of the Lodge be very small, it may be impossible to observe 
this rule in the case of the V.G. 

652. If the committee to whom a complaint is referred is 
absent when their report is expected, that is not sufficient reason 
for dismissing the complaint. The constitution does not fix a 
time for the report of the committee. (^Sec. 639.) 

653- Whenever a committee feel themselves incompetent 
to conduct a trial, they should be permitted to call to their assist- 
ance any brother skilled in law, rules of evidence, etc. 

654. A complaint privately filed with the Noble Grand is 
referred to a committee appointed by him ; and unless they find 
evidence sufficient on which to base a charge or charges, they 
should so report privately to the Noble Grand. The proceedings 
had upon such complaint are ex parte ; and unless charges are 
brought by the committee, the matter should remain a secret with 
the Noble Grand and Investigating Committee. No report should 
be made to the Lodge; and no action can be taken by the 
Lodge. 

655. The decisions of Investigating Committees, appointed 
upon information given to the N.G. of a Lodge, are final; and no 
member of the Lodge has the right to appeal from such deci- 
sion. There are actually no charges preferred or pending for 
the action of the Lodge until the committee report; and the 
Lodge can take no action on the complaint. The minority of a 
Committee of Investigation upon a charge, desiring to submit a 
report, must present it to the same meeting of the Lodge that 
receives the report of the majority ; otherwise, the privilege to 
submit a minority report at all is forfeited. 

656. Whenever a charge or charges are preferred against 
a member, they shall be read in open Lodge, at a regular meet- 
ing. The Secretary shall immediately furnish a copy thereof, 



ILLINOIS ODD-FELLOWS' CODE. 145 

under the seal of the Lodge, to the member so accused, and at the . 
same time cite said member to appear before the Lodge at the 
second regular meeting thereafter to answer thereto. It shall 
also be the duty of the Secretary, upon receiving from the com- 
mittee a list of the names of the witnesses required to sustain 
the complaint, to cite them to appear before the Lodge, as also 
those who may be required by the accused, to give testimony at 
the time of trial, provided said witnesses be members of the 
Order ; but if such witnesses are not members of the Order, the 
Noble Grand shall appoint one or more members having the 
Third Degree as a committee, whose duty it shall be to take the 
testimony of such witnesses, and return the same, in writing, to 
the Noble Grand or Secretary by the evening set (or trial — 
the accused member being first notified of the time and place 
of taking such testimony. Sub. Const., Art. vii, Sec. 5. 

657. When charges are brought against the holder of a 
withdrawal card, the Lodge should not reconsider or rescind the 
vote granting it, but should forthwith annul it or revoke it, 
which brings the brother back into the Lodge for trial. (See 
Sec. 515.) Sov. 1 841, 2145. 

658. General Statement of Principles. A member ??iay 
be tried (that is, evidence on charges against him may be con- 
sidered by the Lodge, and his guilt or innocence decided by 
vote. Sec. 690) — (i) if copy of charges and summons to attend 
trial {Sec. 656) have been actually served on him, and he 
appears at the trial and remains in attendance [Sec. 660); or (2) 
if, on such actual summons, he makes written defense [or is 
defended by his attorney], or waives defense and desires the 
trial to proceed in his absence [Sec. 666); or (3) if he has 
absconded, or is permanently absent or in concealment [Sees. 
661, 662) and constructive service of charges and notice have 
been made under Sec. 662. 

^But a member i7tay not be tried (as defined above) if, on actual 
notice, he refuses to stand trial, and does not appear and remain 
in the Lodge, nor make proxy or written defense or waiver, as 
above [Sees. 660, 667): in that case he may be dealt with for 
contempt [Sees. 660, 667), but not on the merits of the case 
charged [Sec. 667). 

659. Merely technical or formal objections do not invali- 
date a citation to a trial, if it comes from one acting as Secretaiy 

11 



146 ILLINOIS ODD-FELLOWS' CODE, 

by order of the Noble Grand, and has the seal impressed 
thereon. 

660. If any accused member shall evade the receiving of 
a citation, or, after receiving the same, shall neglect or refuse to 
attend the Lodge at the time therein fixed, and there remain 
throughout the investigation or trial of his case, the Lodge may 
proceed in his absence to expel him for contempt. 

Sub. Const., Art. vii, Sec. 13. 

661. When charges are preferred against a brother of the 
Order in any Lodge to which he may belong, but from having 
absconded, or from his permanent absence or concealment, 
he cannot be found, so that the charges preferred or notice 
of trial cannot be personally served upon him, the Lodge 
may regularly proceed with the trial upon proof of the fact 
rendering such personal service impracticable, and that a copy 
of the charges and notice of trial has been deposited in the 
post-office nearest the last known residence of such brother, 
directed to him at such place of residence, post-paid, and that a 
like copy of the charges and notice of trial was left at his last 
place of residence, if the same be known : Provided, that such 
papers shall be deemed to have been served upon the brother 
only from the date when the constructive service above pre- 
scribed is complete ; and provided fiu'ther, that in case such 
brother returns after the conclusion of his trial, not having 
appeared on such trial either in person or by counsel, and asks 
for a new trial, the same shall be granted to him. Without such 
citation an absconding member cannot be tried. 

Sov. 2507, 2522, 3836. 

662. If the Secretary is unable personally to serve a copy 
of the charges and citation on an accused member, by reason of 
his permanent absence, concealment or incarceration, a copy of 
the citation and charges left at his usual or last known place 
of abode, or deposited in the mail, so directed, shall be deemed 
a legal notice or' citation; and the Lodge may proceed with ^he 
trial as if the accused were present. The Noble Grand shall 
appoint counsel to defend him if none appears for him. 

Sub. Const., Art. viz, Sec. 6. 

663. At all stages of the proceedings the accused shall 
have all opportunity to vindicate himself; and in case of sus- 
pension or expulsion following the constructive citation provided 
for in Sec. 6 of this Article [Sec. 662), or in case of alleged 



ILLINOIS ODD-FELLOWS' CODE. 147 

contempt, the accused shall be entitled to a new trial at any 
time within six months, if he shall show that his absence was 
produced by unavoidable circumstances, or that injustice was 
done him. Sub. Const., Art. vii, Sec. 14. 

664. A Lodge may grant a new trial only in the cases 
specified in the Constitution, Art. vii, Sec. 14 (^Sec. 663). The 
accused must show by satisfactory evidence in writing, that he is 
entitled to a new trial; the Lodge shall then present the case to 
the Grand Master, upon whose order the trial can be had {Sec. 
721). The Lodge Deputy cannot order or grant a new trial. 
An appeal to the Grand Lodge may be taken against the granting 
of the new trial. 

665. Expulsion for contempt in not appearing is a sum- 
mary proceeding, requiring no delay, no previous charges of 
contempt, or investigation, and no ground of action on the part 
of the Lodge but the absence of the accused. 

666. A brother is not guilty of contempt who shall make 
a defense in writing, or shall waive his privilege of makmg a 
defense in person, and desire the trial to proceed in his absence ; 
but in such cases the trial must be conducted in the same man- 
ner and decided as though the charged brother were present. 

667. An accused member cannot be formally tried [that 
is, tried on charges with hearing of the testimony] if he refuses or 
willfully neglects to appear for trial; but an accused who ap- 
pears for trial, not in person, but by counsel, is not guilty of 
contempt, and cannot be punished for non-appearance ; nor is a 
brother in contempt who refuses to attend the meeting of a trial 
committee when it is held at the time of the regular meeting of 
his Lodge. Sov. 806, 1502, 2483, 6283, 8367. 

668. Charges and specifications must not be vague : they 
should set forth definitely some offense with sufficient clearness 
in the specifications to enable a brother to know to what he is 
to answer. Dates and places should be given exactly, if pos- 
sible; if not, at least approximately. When a specification 
states the specific offense in such language as is used in general 
conversation, the Lodge may be justified in considering it definite 
enough. Charges should be spread upon the records of the 
Lodge; and full records of the entire proceedings, including 
the testimony, which must be reduced to writing, should be kept. 



148 ILLINOIS ODD-FELLOWS' CODE. 

669. When charges of calumny, contempt, misrepresenta- 
tion and conduct unbecoming are made, specifications should 
explain definitely in what language, acts, etc., the calumny, 
contempt, misrepresentation and misconduct consisted. Charges 
and specifications must not be uncertain and indefinite. 

Sov. 5494, 7377. 

When the use of bad language is charged, the evidence ought to show 
what language was used. The following case {Sov. 5846) illustrates this : 
Bro. P was charged with conduct unbecoming, viz : That at day and place 
named he called Bro. G a scoundrel. P objected that the specification was 
indefinite, in not giving the precise words and context; and in trial he was 
not alloAved to prove the entire sentence, nor the character of G. Decided, 
That the specifications should have been definite; and that proof of the 
entire sentence and of the character of G should have been permitted. 

670. When charges are too vague or indefinite, or when 
what they allege does not constitute an offense, the Lodge should 
dismiss them at once. When charges are dismissed or set aside 
for any reason, the proceedings in the case are at an end, and 
the accused is in the same position as before charges were 
brought. The Lodge can take no further action until new 
charges are preferred. A second charge may be preferred while 
the first is pending, but not for the same ofiense (see Sec. 717); 
and if \\\^ committee desire to withdraw any of the charges or 
specifications before beginning to take evidence in the case, they 
may do so. When a Lodge dismisses charges, an appeal lies to 
the Grand Lodge from such action. 

671. Objections to form of charges (as informal, vague 
or indefinite) should be made before or on trial. An appearance 
cures any defect in the summons or service thereof. Formal 
waiver of objections to the charges on trial is a bar to appeal on 
that point. 

672. When proceedings against a brother cease by the 
setting aside of the charges against him for insufficiency, or by 
the Investigating Committee's declining to bring charges for the 
want of sufficient evidence, the committee may revise the 
charges and prefer them in amended form; or the informant 
may file information supported by further facts. 

673. The Prosecuting Committee must not be the com- 
mittee to take evidence. The failure of the accused to appear 
at the time and place of taking testimony does not constitute a 
contempt; in such case the evidence is to be taken in his absence. 



ILLINOIS ODD-FELLOWS' CODE. 149 

674. The Prosecuting Committee must secure for the 
prosecution all material evidence within their knowledge. A 
member who has been dropped for N.P.D. or suspended for 
oftense may be summoned as a witness during hi* suspension ; 
and in that case the Lodge has power to admit him to its meet- 
ing for the special purpose, if he is qualified to sit in the degree 
in which the trial is had. 

675. Whenever a Lodg-e or Encampment or member of 
either, w^hen supporting a charge or defending against a charge, 
or any person authorized to introduce testimony in any proceed- 
ing, shall desire to take the testimony of a witness whose 
personal presence cannot be had before the tribunal trying such 
charge, his deposition may be taken in the following manner : 
The party desiring to take the deposition shall file w^ith the Secre- 
tary of the Lodge or Scribe of the Encampment the interroga- 
tories he wishes to be propounded to the witness or witnesses, 
naming them. The Secretary or Scribe shall immediately de- 
liver or cause to be delivered to the opposite party a copy of the 
interrogatories. The latter party, within one week from such 
service, may file counter-interrogatories with the Secretary or 
Scribe, if he or they think proper. At the expiration of the 
week, or sooner if counter-interrogatories be sooner filed, the 
Secretary or Scribe shall forthwith forward them to the Noble 
Grand of a Lodge near the witness, w4th a communication re- 
questing him to take the deposition of the witness or witnesses 
named. Upon receipt of the same, the Noble Grand shall, as 
soon as possible, take the depositions or cause them to be taken 
by some competent member of the Order, causing every inter- 
rogatory to be propounded to the witness, and the answer to each 
reduced to writing in the presence of the witness ; and when the 
deposition is completed, shall cause the witness to sign the same, 
and then the Noble Grand or person taking the same shall certify 
the same to be duly taken, and such certificate shall be verified 
by the seal of the Lodge : and the deposition shall then be 
sealed in an envelope and transmitted by mail to the Lodge or 
Encampment before which the trial is pending. A deposition 
thus taken and certified may be read in evidence in the cause to 
which it relates. Sov. 2738, 2885, 2909. 

676. Ex-parte statements may be reason for putting a brother 
on trial, but are not evidence in the trial. Sov. 655, 5852. 

Ex-parte statements are those of one side only : in Sec. 676, those of the 



150 ILLINOIS ODD-FELLOWS' CODE. 

accuser. Ex-parte evidence is that taken by one party in the absence of 
the other^ or without notice to the other, so that that other side has no op- 
portunity to put cross-questions. Ex-par te evidence is not necessarily 
rejected : if the opposite party has failed to attend the taking of testimony 
{Sec. 673) or to -file counter-interrogatories {Sec. 682), the evidence taken by 
one side alone may be legally introduced. 

677. In settling difficulties and differences between Odd- 
Fellows, and in trials upon charges, the Lodge or committee 
should not be confined by the strict rules of evidence such as 
prevail in courts of law. All the testimony of every character 
that will tend to promote the ends of fraternal justice should be 
taken into consideration and allowed due weight ; and no 
evidence should be rejected for simply technical reasons. Hear- 
say or secondary evidence should not be admitted. Outside 
testimony should not be taken when the same evidence may be 
obtained from members of the Order. In the trial of a brother, 
the Lodge is under no obligation to pay the expenses of defend- 
ant's witnesses, or the cost of taking testimony in his behalf. 
When the Lodge appoints a committee to take outside testimony 
in case of the trial of a brother, the Lodge must pay all neces- 
sary expenses incurred by said committee. If the witness be 
remote from the Lodge, his evidence must be taken under the 
law of Sec. 675. 

In the civil courts, the declaration of a person who is supposed to be 
in extrejnis, that is, in the last hours or days of life, and who is aware of 
his condition and who does not expect to recover, is taken as evidence, if 
properly taken down and recorded at once. Such testimony is equally valid 
in a trial in a Lodge. But if the witness recovers so that his later testimony 
can be had, the later testimony, taken with notice to the accused, or before 
the Lodge if the witness be an Odd-Fellow, must be used : the testimony 
taken in extremis can be used onlj" after the death of the witness ; and it 
may be rebutted by later declarations. Sov. 7344-5. 

678. A record of a trial in the courts upon a charge of the 
violation of the laws of the land \'=, pidma- facie proof of the facts 
appearing therein ; and where charges are preferred against a 
brother for a violation of the laws of the Order, the same he has 
been tried for in the courts, the record in the courts is competent 
proof in the trial of the Lodge, and is conclusive, unless other 
evidence be introduced besides that in the record ; and on such 
trial, either party may introduce such evidence as is not embraced 
in the record. Sov. 6351. 

679. If a member of a Lodge is found guilty of crime and 
sentenced to imprisonment by a court, he can be punished in the 



ILLINOIS ODD-FELLOWS' CODE. 151 

Lodge only after a regular trial. If he pleaded guilty in court, 
record evidence of that will be sufficient to convict. 

680. It is not necessary to separate, on a trial, the evidence 
offered in support of the several charges. 

681. Evidence as to reputation must be the general repu- 
tation in the neighborhood where the party lives. 

682. If in a trial the prosecution has not introduced material 
evidence before evidence of the defense is introduced, new 
evidence, which is not to be limited to rebuttal, may be brought 
in by the prosecution. The rule is liberal : justice requires that 
each party be allowed to introduce all competent evidence, 
without regard to the time of offering, subject to the judgment of 
the Lodge as to the propriety of the introduction. 

Sov. 4915-16, 8407. 

683. Testimony given by witnesses who are not members 
of the Order [^Sec. 656) becomes the property of the Lodge, and 
must be submitted to the Lodge, unless, by consent of both 
parties to the trial, it is withdrawn : either party has the right to 
demand its introduction. When introduced, it is subject to the 
ruling of the N.G. as to its admissibility. 

684. The defendant is a competent witness in all cases ; 
but the Lodge may properly remember that he is a party in 
interest, and give his testimony such weight as they think it 
entitled to. 

685. A wife is not a competent witness for or against 
her husband on a trial ; and what she cannot testify to she can- 
not tell to another and he testify thereto. {^Secs. 684, 686.) 

686. A wife shall be allowed to testify against her husband 
when he is accused of inflicting corporal injury upon her ; but 
in no other case can a wife give evidence against her husband. 
A woman divorced a vinculo matrimonii may be a v/itness 
against her former husband ; but if she be divorced a mensa et a 
thoro only, she may not be a witness. Sov. 1502, 8405. 

687. A sister of the Rebekah Degree may not be admit- 
ted to a Lodge to give evidence in a trial. Her testimony must 
be taken by a committee. (^Sec. 656.) 

688. Evidence which has been recorded in a case 



152 ILLINOIS ODD-FELLOiVS' CODE. 

belongs to it, and is a part of the case on a new trial or rehear- 
ing. Sov. 4156-7. 

68g. A Lodge, on a trial of a brother under charges, may 
not refuse to any qualified member of the Lodge in good stand- 
ing admission to the Lodge room, nor exclude him therefrom. 

Sov. 6007. 

6go. Strictly speaking, a trial begins only when the case 
is called up and the taking of testimony before the Lodge 
begins. 

691. Postponing a trial is entirely in the discretion of a 
Lodge ; and refusal to hear attorneys on that point is no ground 
for appeal. But a case may not be postponed on the request of 
one party to procure the testimony of an absent witness, if the 
other party is willing to admit all that it is claimed the absent 
witness would prove. Sov. 5852, 3573. 

692. The Lodge, at said second regular meeting, or at some 
other time as may then be fixed, shall proceed with the investi- 
gation or trial of the case, with a full hearing of all testimony 
and the defense of the accused member. The oral testimony 
shall be reduced to writing as it is given, and made part of the 
record. The Lodge shall then proceed to vote upon the charge 
or charges preferred; but no member shall be entitled to vote 
unless he were present during the whole of the hearing the testi- 
mony and of the arguments thereon. If the charges be 
sustained, in whole or in part, by a vote of two-thirds of the 
members entitled to vote on the question, the accused shall retire 
to the ante-room. The Secretary shall then read to the Lodge 
the charge or charges or part or parts thereof that have been 
sustained, when the Noble Grand, without motion, shall proceed 
to put to vote the highest order of punishment — expulsion ; and 
if that be not agreed to, he shall put the next — suspension; and 
shall so proceed until some order of punishment is agreed to by 
a vote of two-thirds of the members present. One penalty only 
shall be inflicted as the result of one trial. 

Sub. Const., Art. vii, Sec. 7. 

693. In trials, the vote on "guilty" or " not guilty" 
should be taken as follows : The first charge should be read. 
Then the specifications under said charge should be read and 
balloted on in their order. Then a vote should be taken on the 
charge itself. In the same manner the second charge and speci- 



ILLINOIS ODD-FELLOWS' CODE. 153 

fication should be proceeded with. If all the specifications 
under a charge are sustained, but the charge itself is voted down, 
the defendant is by said vote acquitted of that charge. If all 
specifications under a charge are voted down, then the charge 
itself fails. A Lodge must vote on each specification separately, 
and then on the charge. At times specifications are very vague ; 
and although they may sometimes be sustained by the evidence 
in the case, yet such specification may not be sufficient to sus- 
tain the charge. Therefore the Lodge must vote first on the 
specifications in their order, and if any or all of such specifications 
be sustained, then the vote must be taken on the charge. 

694. Debate or discussion of the guilt or innocence of the 
accused is not allowed to the members of the Lodge. 

695. A member who is not entitled [Sec. 692) to vote on 
the question "guilty or not guilty?" is not entitled to vote on 
the penalty if the accused is found guilty. 

696. The counsel or attorneys on either side, if they are 
duly qualified members of the Lodge that holds the trig.1, may 
vote on the result. 

697. If a charge be sustained, some penalty must be in- 
flicted : if a resolution to expel fails to obtain a two-thirds vote, 
it is the duty of the Lodge to adopt a resolution providing for a 
less penalty, to conform to the By-Laws of the Grand Lodge, 
Art. II, Sec. 5 (^Sec. 201). And if all the orders of penalty are 
successively rejected, the Lodge must begin again with a vote on 
expulsion and proceed as before. Sec. 692. 

698. A member on trial is not entitled to vote on his own 
case, and is not counted in computing the vote on the charges ; 
but a member under charges may vote in a case not his own. 
Every member present who [being entitled to vote] does not 
vote a zvhite ball on questions of sustaining charges, or on the 
punishment, in effect votes in the negative, even though excused 
by the Lodge from voting. Every brother who is entitled to 
vote on the question, including the N.G., but excluding members 
who are too much in arrears [Sees. 764, 979, 1004), 7?iust vote, 
unless excused by a majority of those present; and then he can 
avoid voting in effect only by withdrawing from the room. 

Sov. 3091, 4992, 7854, 8083. 



154 ILLINOIS ODD-FELLOWS' CODE. 

699. All votes taken under the provisions of this article 
shall be by ballot with balls. Siib. Const., Ai't. vii, Sec. 23. 

The votes specified are the votes on specifications, on charges and 
on penalty. Other votes taken during trial, as on appeals from the deci- 
sions of the N.G., etc., are taken according to the law given in the Ritual 
{Sec. 634). 

700. The Noble Grand should carefully explain, before the 
balloting, that a zvhite ball is to be cast/^?" conviction, or for the 
penalty under consideration, indicating the affirmative of the 
question; and that a black ball is against 'i^x'i\2Amxvg the charges, 
or against the penalty, indicating the negative. A Lodge can- 
not reconsider a vote to sustain charges, unless error or fraud in 
the ballot be shown ; and not even then, unless the motion be 
made at the same or the next succeeding regular meeting. 

The compiler doubts whether a Lodge would be sustained on appeal in a 
case in which it had reco7tsidered a ballot in a trial, in view of the law 
{Sec. 1007) that the reconsideration of a ballot vote is inadmissible. If error 
or fraud be shown, it will be best to follow the course directed for error in 
ballots for membership {Sec. 409) ; or to apply to the Grand Master under 
Sec. 721. 

701. If a mistake is made in voting in ballot on a trial, and 
the brother announces that he did not vote as he intended, if the 
ballot box has not yet been examined, the presiding officer should 
have the ballot held over again, to allow correction of the mis- 
take. Sov. 5853. 

702. Whenever the Lodge shall determine upon suspen- 
sion, a motion maybe made to fix the time, and two amendments 
may be offered thereto, which shall be decided without debate. 
The Noble Grand shall put them to vote, commencing with the 
longest period of time therein named ; and if all of them be 
rejected, a second motion may be made, and two amendments 
permitted thereto, which shall be put to vote in like manner; 
and the Lodge shall so proceed until some period for suspension 
is agreed to. But suspension of membership shall work no sus- 
pension of dues and arrearages, but they shall run on during the 
time of suspension. If the Lodge shall decide to punish by 
fine, the same course shall be adopted in determining the amount 
thereof as is above provided in fixing the time of suspension ; 
and in either case, of fixing the time of suspension or amount of 
fine, the majority of the members present shall decide the period 
of time or amount. But no suspension mgiy be shorter than eight 
days, nor longer than one year. Sub. Const., Art. vii. Sec. 8. 



ILLINOIS ODD-FELLOWS' CODE. 155 

703. A member cannot be suspended or expelled for mis- 
conduct at any other than a regular meeting of the Lodge, or at 
a meeting specially called for the trial. 

704. When the misconduct is confessed by the accused 
brother, the Lodge to which such case is referred may proceed 
to vote upon his punishment without the formula of a trial. 

Sub. Cojzst., Art. vii, Sec. 9. 

705. If an accused member «r)nfesses his guilt, and to 
avoid exposure of details asks the Lodge to expel him on his 
confession, it may expel him without trial. Sov. 806, 2620. 

706. A plea of guilty, with a request for immediate action, 
justifies a Lodge in anticipating the set time of trial and ending 
the case by infliction of penalty before the regular time. 

707. If an accused brother wishes to admit that he com- 
mitted the act charged, but under excusable circumstances, or 
with justifiable intent, he should plead not guilty, and present 
his defense. 

708. When a brother pleads guilty to an offense to> which 
there is affixed a specific penalty, the Lodge should inflict the 
same. In such case no trials, charges or evidence is needed 
when plea of guilty is entered. 

709. A party cannot be arraigned for one offense and 
found guilty of another : the decision must be upon the charges 
preferred. Sov. 3818. 

710. When a definite penalty is fixed by law for any 

offense, a brother convicted thereof is sentenced without further 
vote; if alternatives are fixed, the Lodge chooses one of them 
by vote. Sub. Const., Art. vii, Sec. 12. 

711. Sec. 19. If three members of a Lodge in which 
charges may be preferred against a member are of opinion that 
the accused will not receive an impartial trial at the hands of the 
Lodge, and present such opinion in writing, such paper, together 
with such evidence as may be desired bearing upon the question 
of prejudice in the Lodge, shall be forwarded to the Grand 
Master; and if he order the case changed to another Lodge, 
then, when the register of written evidence is reported by the 
committee, and the case is ready for the hearing of oral testi- 
mony, if any, the trial shall be removed to the named Lodge. 



156 ILLINOIS ODD-FELLOWS' CODE. 

A copy of the record of all proceedings up to the time of 
removal shall be sent to the Lodge to which removal is made, 
with the original papers of the case, and a transcript of all 
letters relating thereto; and such Lodge shall proceed to the 
hearing, scrutiny and decision as if the accusation had been first 
therein preferred. 

Sec. 20. Upon such removal, the Prosecuting Committee, or 
some advocate appointed by the Noble Grand of the removing 
Lodge, may present the case, and the accused may appear by 
himself or attorney, as if no such removal had taken place. 

Sec. 21. If any member of the Order residing near the 
removing Lodge, who cannot attend the trial after the removal, 
be summoned as a witness on either side, his testimony may be 
taken in the manner above provided respecting the testimony of 
persons not members of the Order, and may be made a part of 
the register of evidence ; and all oral evidence taken at the trial 
shall be reduced to writing and added to the register of evidence 
transferred by the removing Lodge. 

Sec. 22. When the matter has been determined, a copy of 
the record of the proceedings had thereon, with the register of 
the evidence, shall be returned to the removing Lodge; and the 
same shall be filed in its archives, and the judgment entered 
upon its records. An appeal to the Grand Lodge may be had 
in case of a removed trial, as in other cases. 

Sub. Const., Art. vii, Sees. 19-22. 

712. The Lodge to which a trial is removed is permitted to 
appoint a Prosecuting Committee from its own members only in 
case of the absence or inability to act of the original Prosecuting 
Committee, whose duty it is to attend to the case wherever it is 
tried. 

713. Change of venue may be asked on behalf of the 
Lodge or prosecution as well as on behalf of the accused. It 
may be asked in case of charges of official misconduct. The 
accused may be one of the three that ask the change of venue. 

714. When an appealed case has been sent back by the 
Grand Lodge or Grand Master for a new trial, a change of venue 
may be asked for the second trial, unless there are special 
instructions inconsistent therewith. 

715. It is not the duty of the Lodge to which change of 
venue is taken to appoint a committee to take evidence from 



ILLINOIS ODD-FELLOWS' CODE. 157 

persons outside the Order: the Lodge in which charges were 
made must do that. And if such witnesses are remote from the 
Lodge, that body may not call upon the defendant to attend the 
taking of evidence, nor send its own committee : it must take 
depositions, according to Sec. 675. 

716. A suspended or dropped member, if arraigned for 
trial, must be temporarily admitted to the Lodge room for the 
purpose of making his defense, without being restored to rights 
of membership. The same rule applies to one in arrears and 
without the term password. Sov. 1655. 

717. A brother cannot be tried twice for the same offense, 
even if, subsequently to his acquittal by the Lodge, he shall be 
found guilty by the courts. 

718. In change of venue, in cases where the Grand Lodge 
sets aside the trial and penalty and orders a new trial, the Lodge 
before which the case was tried ought to proceed. A trial and 
penalty set aside by the Grand Lodge and new trial ordered 
cannot be pleaded in bar on the new trial ordered by the Grand 
Lodge, it being only one and the same action. 

719. In a trial the records of a Lodge must show that all 
the proceedings have been conducted in due form; and no 
presumption of fair dealing on the part of the I odge can be 
made when the records do not show it. 

720. When a party is expelled for contempt in not appear- 
ing for trial, the record should show, by some positive evidence, 
that a copy of the charges and a summons were legally served 
on the accused with a sufficient notice of the time and place of 
trial. Sov. 5494-5. 

721. Whenever a Lodge discovers an illegality in proceed- 
ings which have resulted in the suspension or expulsion of a 
member, the Lodge should apply to the Grand Master for an 
order for a new trial. 

722. The written defense of the accused brother is not 
one of the papers regularly belonging to a case of discipline ; 
but if he requests that it be made such, the Secretary should so 
file and keep it ; and it cannot then be withdrawn without con- 
sent of the Lodge. A Lodge has control of its own papers; 
but reasonable access to papers should always be allowed to 



158 ILLINOIS ODD-FELLOWS' CODE. 

each party. A brother on trial is entitled to abstracts of record 
and copies of all papers and proceedings in any matter of fact 
pertaining to his case. 

723. It is the duty of the Secretary, when he is so instructed 
by the Noble Grand or the Lodge, to make abstracts of records, 
to examine the same, either himself or in connection with com- 
mittees of prosecution or defense, where charges are pending, 
or in any case or matter wherein the interest of the Lodge or 
its members is concerned. In no case should he permit books 
or papers to go out of his possession, except as instructed and 
obligated in his installation. 

724. Proceedings against an officer for official miscon- 
duct do not begin by the filing of information and the preferring 
of charges, as in case of conduct unbecoming ; but the proper 
method of proceeding is to offer a resolution that the officer be 
cited to appear at a specified regular meeting and answer to a 
charge specifying official misconduct in certain action or neglect 
of action ; and, after the adoption of such resolution, the 
methods and rules of other trials have force as far as applicable. 
When the Noble Grand of a Lodge, in his official capacity, per- 
sistently violates law and usage, the proper course to be pursued 
is to proceed against him for " official misconduct," and let the 
Vice Grand preside during his trial. If found guilty, he may be 
removed from office by vote of the Lodge. 

725. Sec. 16. Any brother having been suspended or ex- 
pelled, notice thereof shall be sent without delay to the Grand 
Secretary and to all the Lodges in the same place; and a 
brother who has been legally expelled shall not be admitted to 
membership again without consent of the Grand Lodge. 

Sec. 18. This Lodge shall have a black-book, in which shall 
be entered the names of all persons rejected, suspended or 
expelled by this Lodge or any other Lodge of which they may 
have received due notice, with the date and cause of such sus- 
pension or expulsion. Sub. Const. ^ Art. vii, Sees. 16, 18. 

726. If any expense accrues in a trial after a change, of 
venue [for example, by the employment of a stenographer], it 
must be paid by the Lodge in which the trial originated. 

727. When the Grand Lodge or the Grand Master sends 
back a case with instructions to a Lodge that it must find the 



ILLINOIS ODD-FELLOWS' CODE. 159 

accused guilty and inflict the proper punishment, the Lodge must 
vote on each specification and charge regularly, as in case of the 
original proceeding; next it votes upon the penalty, unless that 
be already fixed by law. But these votes need not be taken on 
the evening when the Grand Master's order is read in the Lodge. 
It may be postponed to some other reasonable time. 



CHAPTER XIX. 
Penalties and Disabilities. 

728. The only legal penalties for misconduct are fine, 
reprimand, suspension and expulsion. Fine is not allowed as 
penalty for violation of the principles of the Order. 

Stib. Const. ^ Art. vii. Sec. 10. 

729. Only the penalties named in the preceding "Section 
may be enacted in by-laws or used in the action of a Lodge. 
It is not lawful to suspend a brother from office, or declare him 
ineligible to degrees or to office, or deprive him of benefits, as a 
penalty for misconduct. When the Grand Lodge has fixed a 
penalty, the by-laws and action of Lodges must conform to it 
strictly. 

730. If the penalty adjudged upon a trial is expulsion, sus- 
pension or fine, the penalty begins to operate as soon as it has 
been fixed by the Lodge, unless it be suspended by the Deputy 
under the power gi\'^n in Sec. 329, when an appeal is about to 
be taken. Then if the Grand Master decide the appeal against 
the accused, the penalty will be held to be in operation from the 
date of his decision. If the appeal be taken, but the Deputy 
does not interfere to suspend the sentence, the accused will sub- 
mit to the expulsion, suspension or fine until the Grand Master 
or Grand Lodge decides in his favor. 

If the penalty adjudged be reprimand, and appeal be taken 
[or notice of appeal given], it must not be inflicted until the 
case is decided, first by the Grand Master, and then by the 
Grand Lodge, if the accused chooses to appeal to that body. 

Any claim for benefits accruing during suspension of sentence 



160 ILLINOIS ODD-FELLOWS' CODE, 

must be acted upon by the Lodge, just as it would have been 
acted on if the sentence had not been passed. 

731: Expulsion severs a member's connection with the 
Lodge and with the Order. It is the extreme penaky of our 
laws, and should not be inflicted upon any member unless con- 
victed of some serious offense, so deemed in our laws. A decision 
that for a certain offense a member may be expelled does not 
mean that he must be expelled. In such case facts extenuating 
or criminating should be considered in determining upon the 
penalty, which may be the extreme penalty or less. 

Sov. 1775, 4859. 2330. 

732. Suspension is only a temporary punishment, to be 
regulated by the magnitude of the offense, and must be for a 
definite time, when inflicted for misconduct, at the expiration 
of which the brother returns to good standing, ipso facto, with- 
out any vote or formality. 

During suspension a member is still liable for dues and 
answerable for bad conduct. He is cut off from all benefits and 
privileges ; and in case of his sickness and death, the Lodge is 
in no respect liable to any claims on account of his decease. 
But a Lodge may not refuse to receive the communications of a 
suspended member so as to deprive him of the right of petition 
or of the privilege of making acknowledgment and submission 
for errors committed, though further penalty may be inflicted 
for disrespectful communications. Sov. 1505, 2561, 2287, 4467. 

A suspension may not be for longer time than one year, nor 
for less time than eight days, excluding the brother from at least 
one meeting of his Lodge. i^Sec. 702.) 

The S.G.L. decided, in 1853, that the greatest length of time to which a 
suspension may run is to be determined by the legislation of Subordinate 
Lodges. But in 1854, the G.L.U.S. confirmed the action of a Grand I^odge 
in terminating a suspension on the ground that it was too long to be con- 
sidered temporary, and was an evasion of the law. Thus it appears that a 
Grand Body may determine whether a suspension by a subordinate is too 
long, or is for a reasonable time. Sov. 2147, 2284-9. 

733. Exclusion from the Lodge for want of the S. A.P.W. is 

not equivalent to suspension. Suspension deprives a member of 
weekly benefits and of the right to be buried by the Lodge, and 
his family of the right to claim benefits; and it continues for a 
definite period ; but an unsuspended member who is not entitled 
to the term password is entitled to burial in the event of death, 



ILLINOIS ODD-FELLOWS' CODE. 161 

and his family to funeral benefits. He is not excluded from the 
Lodge room by the action of the Lodge, but by his own action. 

734. A fine is not the proper or legal penalty for a viola- 
tion of the principles of the Order (Sec. 728). When a Lodge 
has imposed a fine in such a case, it must rescind all action 
back to the vote sustaining the charge, and reprimand, suspend, 
or expel. [But only those who had the right to vote originally 
on the penalty can vote such correction of the proceeding.] 

735. A man is presumed to be innocent until proved 
guilty. The only effect of undecided charges is to deprive the 
member of the right to take a visiting or traveling card, and 
where the charges bear upon the rights to benefits, to suspend 
the payment thereof until a final decision. Sov. 2132, 5194. 

Excepting when the charges bear upon the right to benefits, a 
member under charges is entitled to all the rights and privileges 
of an Odd-Fellow against whom no charges have been preferred. 
In sickness he is entitled to watchers and to weekly benefits, if 
he is not more than thirteen weeks in arrears for dues. If he 
should die before trial, he is entitled to burial and his family to 
funeral benefits. He participates in the work of the Lodge, etc. 
And a withdrawal card, a certificate of resignation, or even a 
visiting card, cannot legally be given to a member against whom 
charges are pending. 

736. By-laws excluding any member from voting at an 
election, as penalty. for canvassing for votes for one's self or for 
another; or declaring a member in a state of suspension during 
trial; or requiring an officer to vacate his office for the time 
being because of the pendency of charges against him ; or 
directing that, for any offense, a brother shall forthwith be 
ordered to leave the room, and not return until he has apolo- 
gized ; or excluding visitors for any offense ; are illegal and 
void, these penalties being equivalent to suspension within the 
meaning of the constitution. 

737. A brother may not be ordered to leave the room for 
misconduct, nor put out, unless he be intoxicated or otherwise 
disorderly, so that he renders it difficult to proceed with busi- 
ness. 

738. No fine or other penalty may be inflicted by the 
Noble Grand : except that there may be by-law provisions for 

12 



162 ILLINOIS ODD-FELLOWS' CODE. 

disability on account of arrearages of dues, and for lining absen- 
tees or those who neglect duty ; and these the Noble Grand 
enforces summarily, by universal usage of the Order. 

739. When fines are imposed by the Noble Grand upon 
officers or members for absence or failure to do duty, oppor- 
tunity must be given to the officer or member to offer excuse in 
bar or mitigation of the fines imposed, upon which excuse the 
Lodge must pass, and decide it sufficient or insufficient. If the 
Lodge decides the excuse sufficient, the vote remits the fine ; 
otherwise the fine stands, subject to appeal. The word of a 
brother must be taken as true in offering an excuse ; but he may 
be tried and punished for a false statement. 

740. Fine may not be assessed against an officer whose 
non-attendance is shown to be caused by absence from home or 
by sickness. A majority vote grants excuse, unless the by-laws 
provide otherwise. 

741. When fines are properly and legally assessed against 
members [as penalty after trial, for instance], the Lodge has no 
right to remit them. And when an officer is, under the by-laws, 
fined for absence, the Lodge may not remit the fine without 
excuse. 

742. It is the duty of officers to be present at the hour of 
meeting : absence at that time without excuse is neglect of duty, 
and renders them liable to fine if there is a by-law to that 
effect: coming in after roll-call does not free them from this 
liability. 

743. An officer or a committee cannot be fined for neglect 
of duty when there is no by-law authorizing the fine. 

744. A Lodge may in its discretion remit any fine or pen- 
alty upon an officer or member for absence (as from Lodge 
meeting or a funeral) when such absence is shown to arise from 
his holding an official position in his church or Sunday school, 
and his attendance there. But the Lodge may displace him 
from office if his absences bring him under the rule of Sec. 261, 
not as penalty on him, but for the benefit of the Lodge, which is 
entitled to officers that will attend. 

745. When a brother residing out ot town, or at a distance 
from the Lodge room, accepts of office, he may not claim 
exemption from fine for absence, when at home, upon the plea 



ILLINOIS ODD-FELLOWS' CODE. 163 

of "absence from town." An officer of a Lodge is liable to a 
line or other punishment for absence or neglect of duty, even 
after the expiration of the term for which he was elected or 
appointed, until his successor has been elected or appointed 
and installed, provided the by-laws inflict a penalty for absence 
or neglect of duty. 

746. A Lodge may not fine a brother for refusing to accept 
an office or place on a committee ; nor may it fine any one but 
an officer for absence from any regular Lodge meeting. 

747. Fines may be inflicted under by-laws, but not other- 
wise {^Sec. 743), on a Secretary who fails, when necessarily 
absent, to send or deliver his keys to the Noble Grand or Vice 
Grand ; and on an installed appointed officer, if absent. 

748. Official misconduct may be punished by removal 
from office or by fine ; but not by any other penalties. But 
official misconduct associated with other misconduct may be 
otherwise punished. (See Sec. 626.) 

749. The suspension of an officer of either a Grand or 
a Subordinate Lodge for cause and as a punishment, whether 
for a long or a short period, vacates his office in either 'body. 
In a Grand Lodge he is not restored to office by the termination 
of the time of suspension, unless the Grand Lodge Constitution 
so provides. Sov. 7772, 7909. 

750. It is a violation of the secrecy of the Order to publish 
(using the word in its popular acceptation) the name of a mem- 
ber expelled for N.P.D. Sov. 2214. 

The principle of this decision of the S.G.L. is of wider application, so 
that the same may be said of persons dropped or suspended for N.P.D.; 
and of persons suspended for cause, who are to return to full membership 
by expiry of sentence ; and even of persons expelled, except in cases re- 
garded in Sec. 751. 

The names of persons suspended or expelled for cause other than non- 
payment of dues were formerly required to be reported to the Sovereign 
Grand Lodge, and were annually published in its Journal. This custom was 
in 1868 discontinued by law as to suspended persons, and in 1871 as to 
expelled persons. Sov. By-Law, Art. x ; Sov. 344, 3093, 4194, 4397, 5159. 

751. When a member is suspended or expelled for im- 
> moral conduct or other cause, it is not obligatory upon members 

of the Order to keep the fact a secret from the world. Such 
matters should not be unnecessarily published ; but where the 
community or the reputation of the Order might suffer from 



164 IL LINO IS ODD-FELLOWS' CODE. 

secrecy, justice requires that they should be made public. But 
organized bodies only should have authority to make such 
divulgence, and not individual members, without authority. 

752. The penalty for intoxication is reprimand for the 
first offense, suspension for the second, and expulsion for the 
third; and no other penalties are legal. 

Sub. Const., Art. vii, Sec. II. 

The following cases and comments explain Sec. 752 : 

Case and Decision. — A brother is reprimanded for the first offense of 
intoxication, and is suspended for second offense. During his suspension 
he is dropped for non-payment of dues. After a number of years he is rein- 
stated. If charged with intoxication again, upon conviction he must be 
expelled. 

Case. — M was convicted of intoxication, and suspended. He had once 
before been before the Lodge as his own accuser for the same offense. 

Decided, That his voluntary confession of offense, without the infliction 
of a penalty, was not in the nature of a judicial proceeding ; hence this 
instance was legally his first offense, and its penalty was reprimand. 

Intoxication, within the meaning of the law, refers to specific acts of 
excessive drinking of spirituous liquors. The member who has been 
guilty of one act of excessive drinking of this kind has been guilty of the 
offense of intoxication. If the word " drunkenness," which refers to the 
habit of excessive drinking, had been used, one act of intoxication could 
not have been punished; but the Grand Lodge was careful to use the word 
** intoxication," which refers to specific acts of excess in the drinking of 
spirituous liquors. 

The object of the law is to punish a member for going, in jndulgence of 
his appetite for liquor, beyond the limits of sobriety. He may drink as 
much liquor as he pleases, and be guilty of no offense against the law, pro- 
vided he remains sober. 

753. If a brother has been expelled for intoxication and has 
been reinstated, and shall again be found guilty of intoxication, 
the penalty shall be suspension for not less than three months; 
and for the next offense he shall be again expelled. 

754. It is not necessary in a trial for intoxication to prove 
the act of taking liquor ; it is enough to prove that the accused 
v^as in a state of intoxication. 

755. If a brother is guilty of two or more acts of in- 
toxication before his offense is reported to the Lodge, these 
acts must be summed into one charge, and dealt with in one 
trial, with one penalty [Sec. 692). If in such case two separate 
informations alleging different instances of intoxication should 
come into the hands of the Noble Grand (or Vice Grand, under 
Sec. 647), they should be referred to the same committee, and 
be united in one charge as above said. 



CHAPTER XX. 

Non-Payment of Dues: Disability therefrom : Dropping, and 
Reinstatement thereafter. 

756. Non-payment of dues (abbreviated N.P.D.) has been 
the subject of much legislation, for the history of which see the 
Historical Appendix. It has resulted in the adoption of the 

GENERAL LAWS OF 187O AND 1880 ON NON-PAYMENT OF DUES 
AND REINSTATEMENT. 

Clause I. A member of the Order who becomes in arrears 
for dues for the period of one year may be suspended or dropped 
from membership, but he cannot be expelled from the Order on 
account of being in arrears for dues. 

Clause 2. A member suspended or dropped from member- 
ship for N.P.D. may be reinstated in the Lodge or Encampment 
from which he has been suspended or dropped, within one year 
after suspension, by paying^ the amount of one year's dues, and 
being reinstated in the manner prescribed by the local law. 

Clause 3. After one year from the date of suspension, a 
member dropped or suspended for N.P.D. may be reinstated 
upon the payment of the fee charged for an initiate of the same 
age, or such less sum as the by-laws may prescribe. 

Clause 4. A member suspended or dropped from membership 
for N.P.D., who makes application for reinstatement and for a 
withdrawal card, for the purpose of uniting with another Lodge 
or Encampment in the same jurisdiction, may be reinstated and 
granted a final card at any time within five years from the date 
of suspension, upon the payment of one year's dues and the 
usual price of a card. 

Clause 5. A member suspended or dropped for N.P.D., after 
five years' suspension, wishing to join a Lodge or Encampment 
in the same jurisdiction, shall be entitled to receive, and the 
Lodge or Encampment shall grant, upon proper application, a 
dismissal certificate, upon the receipt of one dollar. 

Clause 6. A Lodge or Encampment, upon proper application 



166 ILLINOIS ODD-FELLOWS' CODE. 

and the receipt of one'dollar, may, at the discretion of the Lodge 
or Encampment, by a majority vote of the members present, 
grant a dismissal certificate to a member suspended for N.P.D., 
to enable such suspended member to join a Lodge in the same 
jurisdiction before the five years have expired. 

Clause 7. A member suspended or dropped for N.P.D., wish-, 
ing to regain membership in another jurisdiction than that in 
which he was suspended or dropped, shall be entitled to receive, 
and the Lodge or Encampment to which he belonged shall 
grant, upon proper application, a dismissal certificate, upon the 
receipt of one dollar. 

Clause 8. In all cases wherein a Lodge or Encampment has 
refused to reinstate a member suspended or dropped for N.P.D., 
he shall be entitled to receive, and the Lodge or Encampment 
shall, upon proper application, grant a dismissal certificate, upon 
the receipt of one dollar. 

Clause 9. Where the books of an extinct Lodge or Encamp- 
ment have been lost or destroyed, the Grand Secretary or Grand 
Scribe, as the case may be, upon being satisfied of the good 
standing of any member of such extinct Lodge or Encampment, 
may issue to him a card of withdrawal. Where the books of a 
defunct Lodge or Encampment are in the possession of a Grand 
Scribe or Grand Secretary, he may issue cards to former mem- 
bers of the defunct subordinate : such cards shall have the same . 
privilege as a card issued by any existing subordinate. 

Clause 10. Dismissal certificates may be received upon de- 
posit in any Lodge or Encampment, as the case may be, but the 
privilege of visiting a Lodge or Encampment shall not be 
awarded to the holder of a dismissal certificate. The certificate 
shall be provided by the Grand Secretary of the S.G.L., and be 
sold as other supplies are sold, and at the same rate as cards. 

Clatise II. All laws, by-laws, or provisions thereof that are 
inconsistent with the above general laws, conditions and regula- 
tions, are hereby abrogated or repealed. Sov. 8487, 8699. 

757. When any member of a Lodge shall neglect or refuse 
to pay the dues fixed by the laws, for the space of one year, the 
Secretary shall report the same to the Noble Grand ; and, unless 
the Lodge shall otherwise direct, such member shall thereupon 
be suspended [or dropped], (he having been first notified of the 
action that would be taken), a record of which shall be made 
upon the minutes. The mere fact of a member being over twelve 



ILLINOIS ODD-FELLOWS' CODE. 167 

months in arreai^s shall not constitute him a suspended or 
dropped member. To render him such, the Lodge must formally 
declare him to be suspended or dropped. Sov. 7505. 

758. Any member who shall become in arrears for the dues 
and assessments accruing against him during the period of one 
full year shall, after having been notified in accordance with the 
provisions of this Constitution, Art. Ill, Sec. 6 (^Sec. 297), be 
declared by the Noble Grand dropped from membership, unless 
the Lodge shall otherwise direct. Sub. Const. ^ Art. vii, Sec. I. 

759. The formal action of a Subordinate Lodge in the 
dropping of a member for N.P.D. may be legally taken without 
a regular ballot : any action whereby the sense of the body is 
reached, and declared made a matter of record, conforms to the 
law. (See Sec. 502.) Sov. 8141. 

760. Dropping is by the following procedure, which may be 
had at a regular or special meeting : the Permanent Secretary 
must from time to time report to the Noble Grand the names of 
duly notified members who have become in arrears for dues 
accruing during a period of twelve months; the Noble Grand 
must announce the same to the Lodge ; and unless the Lodge 
direct otherwise [Sec. 758), he shall declare the members named 
dropped from membership forN.P.D.; and the Secretary must 
enter the same upon the records of the Lodge. 

761. A Lodge cannot refuse to receive in full or in part 
the dues of a member prior to his being dropped ; and no mem- 
ber can be dropped from membership in the Order for N.P.D. 
unless at the time of his being dropped he shall be indebted to 
the Lodge for one year's dues. Sov. 7505. 

762. A dropped member is not entitled to burial as an 
Odd-Fellow, nor to any honors as a member. 

763. The constitution requires [Sec. 758) two things for a 
legal dropping : first, a year's arrears ; second, proper notifica- 
tion [Sec. 767-8). A Lodge may not drop a brother for less 
than the dues accruing during a whole year. If a brother's 
account is paid up to January first of any year, he cannot be 
twelve months in arrears on the 31st of December of that same 
year : the account must have run for one year before he is one 
year in arrears. 



168 ILLINOIS ODD- FELLOWS' CODE. 

764. A member of a Subordinate Lodge who is in arrears 
for weekly or funeral dues more than thirteen weeks is not 
entitled to the term password, or to vote in the Lodge or 
Encampment, but is a contributing member until suspended, 
dropped or expelled in accordance with the requirements of the 
constitution, and as such is entitled to visit his own Lodge. 
He cannot, however, become entitled to benefits until he 
shall have paid up in full all dues and fines (weekly and 
funeral) that have accrued against him up to the date of payment, 
if the by-laws of the Lodge shall so provide ; nor then, until the 
expiration of such time thereafter as may also by the laws be 
provided as a penalty. Sov. 7505. 

This enactment is part of a series of resolutions passed for the purpose of 
** defining the rights and privileges of members over thirteen weeks in 
arrears" {^Sov. 7461), or '' of members in arrears for dues/' generally {Sov. 
7504). It seems to be to some extent a resumption by the S.G.L. of its grant 
of power over that matter to State Grand Lodges in 1855, which was inad- 
vertently retained without modification in Sec. 69, CI. 4, above, from Sov. 
2461, 2483. 

In 1874 (Jour., Vol. V, 565) the Grand Lodge of Illinois enacted *'that no 
member shall receive the S.A.P.W. until his account for the last past term 
has been settled in full." This seems to be in conflict with this Sec. 764, 
and is dropped from this Code for that reason. This section seems to imply 
that a member in arrears has the right to the term password until he is more 
than thirteen weeks in arrears, which is the fourteenth night after his 
account begins to run into arrears. 

765. The phrase ''thirteen weeks in arrears" must be in- 
terpreted as meaning all dues, assessments and fines that have 
accrued during a period of thirteen weeks : the time is an essen- 
tial element in the case : a brother cannot owe thirteen weeks' 
dues until thirteen weeks from the day when there began to be 
a balance of account against him. The phrase "one year's 
dues " must be interpreted similarly. 

By way of fuller explanation : Suppose the dues of a Lodge are ten cents 
a week : then thirteen weeks' dues are $1.30. Now suppose a brother's ac- 
count is paid in full at the beginning of a term ; and at the end of the eighth 
week, when he owes eighty cents, a funeral assessment of fifty cents is entered 
against him : then he will owe {^1.30; but he will not owe thirteen weeks' 
dues, because the account has not been running thirteen weeks. The 
account must run thirteen weeks' time to make one thirteen weeks in arrears, 
no 77tatter what the amount is, 

766. Only one notification to a member is required by law 
before dropping him; namely, that required in Sec. 297, that he 
is eleven months in arrears. Then the list of notified delinquents 
shall be handed to the Noble Grand one month after the notifi- 
cation, and that officer shall declare them dropped, unless the 



ILLINOIS ODD-FELLOWS' CODE. 169 

Lodge orders otherwise : if he omits his duty then, it may come 
up at any subsequent meeting, when all may be dropped who 
have not meanwhile paid enough to reduce their dues to less 
than one year's account. If, after the notifications required by 
law, a brother pays so much of his dues that the remainder is 
less than what has accrued in a year's time, and then pays no 
more until a year's dues have accrued again, notification must be 
renewed before dropping him. But a duly notified member one 
year in arrears may be dropped at any time : or he may pay up 
and hold his membership at any time before the action of the 
Lodge. 

767. From time to time, as they fall into arrears, the Per- 
manent Secretary must, according to Sec. 297, notify, in writing, 
all members who are in arrears for eleven months' dues. The 
notices must be delivered in person if practicable ; if not, then 
they are to be sent by mail. Substantially the notice must be this : 
" You are in arrears to the Lodge for eleven months, amounting 

to $ , and are liable to be dropped after one month." The 

purpose of this notice is to give the brother warning ; and it is 
necessary in order to legalize a dropping for N.P.D. 

768. When a member, eleven months in arrears, is present 
in the Lodge and examines the books of the Permanent Secre- 
tary, and is shown the state of his account, he is not duly notified 
under Art. Ill, Sec. 6, of the Constitution {Sec. 287), as the 
constitution requires a delivered or mailed written notice. 

769. A member cannot be dropped for N.P.D. whilst a 
Lodge is indebted to him for unpaid benefits, reported to be due, 
of sufficient amount to reduce the indebtedness of the member 
within the limit of the constitutional provision, even though he 
has refused the amount offered because he claimed a larger 
amount. (Sec. 563.) Sov. 1633. 

770. A brother's right to benefits or to vote cannot be cur- 
tailed by reason of non-payment, it it is proved that he offered 
to pay his dues and assessments, but could not because the 
proper officer was not present to receive them ; unless the brother 
at a subsequent meeting, when the officer is present, has failed to 
pay said indebtedness. 

771. A delinquent member's dues may not be added to 
or increased beyond the regular rate as a punishment for such 
delinquency. 



170 ILLINOIS ODD-FELLOWS' CODE. 

772. Dismissal certificates shall be granted by this Lodge, 
and issued by the Noble Grand and Secretary without vote of 
the Lodge, upon proper written application therefor, and the 
payment of one dollar, in these cases : (i) To a member dropped 
for five years who wishes to join a Lodge in this jurisdiction, 
which fact shall appear in the application : (2) To any dropped 
member wishing to join a Lodge in another jurisdiction, which 
fact shall appear. in the application; (3) To any dropped mem- 
ber to whom reinstatement has been refused. 

The Lodge may, in its discretion, by a majority vote of the 
members present, also grant such certificates to members who 
have been dropped for a less time than five years, who wish to 
join Lodges in this jurisdiction. Sub. Const.., Art. ix, Sec. 5. 

773. Dismissal certificates shall be in the form following, 
to-wit : 

Independent Order of Odd-Fellows. 
To all "whom it Jitay concern, 

Fraternally Greeting. 

This certifies that was admitted to membership in , 

No. , at in the State of , on the day of , 18 — ■, and by 

and that he retained his membership in said until the 

day of , 18 — , when he was suspended for non-payment of dues, and he 

is entirely dismissed from membership in said . 

In witness whereof, we have hereunto subscribed our names and affixed 

the seal of the this day of , a.d. 18 — . 

[seal] , N. G. 

, Sec'y. 

Sov. 4848. 

774. The holder of a dismissal certificate, regularly issued 
by a Lodge, may deposit the same in any other Lodge, as the 
case may be, under such rules and upon such conditions as the 
jurisdiction in which it is offered for deposit may prescribe ; 
but he shall not be required to be in possession of the traveling 
password, nor can he visit a Lodge by virtue of such certificate. 

Sov. By-Law^ Art. xiv, amended ^\.%2.. 

775. It is wholly improper for a Lodge to give notice to 
other Lodges in case of dropping for N.P.D., as it does in cases 
of rejection, expulsion and suspension for cause. 

776. No member shall be reinstated after having been 
dropped for N.P.D. for less sums than are herein provided, viz : 

Under Art. VIII, Sec. i, of this Constitution, the amount of 



ILLINOIS ODD-FELLOWS' CODE. 171 

one year's dues, neither more nor less ; under Art. VIII, Sec. 2, 
the same fee as is charged for an initiate of the same age, or 
such lesser sum (not less than one year's dues) as the by-laws 
may prescribe; under Art. VIII, Sec. 3, a sum not less than 
one year's dues; under Art. VIII, Sec. 4, the amount of one 
year's dues and the price of a card. (See Sees. 777 to 780.) 

Sub. Const., Art. x, See. 4. 

777. A brother dropped for N.P.D. from membership in 
this Lodge may, within one year after being dropped, be rein- 
stated upon application made in open Lodge by a member 
thereof, which shall be held over until the second meeting 
thereafter, the Secretary reading the same at each meeting, and 
be determined affirmatively on a ballot by a majority of the votes 
cast, and upon payment of such amount as the by-laws of the 
Lodge may prescribe ["one year's dues, neither more nor less," 
under See. 776]. Sud. Const., Art. viii, See. I. 

778. If a brother dropped for N.P.D. from membership in 
this Lodge shall, after one year from being dropped, make 
application for reinstatement, his application shall be treated 
like a proposition for membership by initiation, except that the 
vote of a majority on ballot shall reinstate him. [Fee, see in 
See. 776]. Stib. Const., Art. viii. See. 2. 

779. A brother dropped from membership in this Lodge 
who may have been in membership in the Order for five consecu- 
tive years, and who may be over fifty years of age, may be 
reinstated as a non-beneficial member by a majority on ballot. 
His application must state age, occupation and residence, and be 
disposed of as required in the preceding section. [Fee, not less 
than one year's dues. Sec. 776.] Sub. Const., Art. viii. See. 3. 

780. A brother dropped from membership in this Lodge 
who shall, at any time within five years from being dropped, 
make written application for reinstatement and a withdrawal 
card for the purpose of joining another Lodge in Illinois, may 
be reinstated and granted a withdrawal card by a majority vote 
upon ballot ; and the reinstating vote shall grant the card also, 
without further ballot. But such application may, at the option 
of the Lodge, be referred to a committee for investigation, and 
shall be reported upon and acted on as soon thereafter as prac- 
ticable. [Fee, one year's dues and the price of a card, by See. 
776.] Sub. Const., Art. viii, See. 4. 



172 ILLINOIS ODD-FELLOWS' CODE. 

781. A written application for reinstatement is essential : a 
verbal application by one member for another in open Lodge, 
with payment or tender of the necessary amount, is not sufficient. 
(See the constitution, given in Sees. 777 to 780.) 

782. Members expelled for N.P.D. before such expulsion 
was forbidden shall be reinstated as dropped members. {^Sees. 
776-780.) Sub. Const., Ai^t, viii, See. 5. 

783. When a person is to be reinstated on the payment of 
one year's dues, the rate of dues at the time of reinstatement is 
the standard, and not the rate at the time when he was dropped. 

784. If a Lodge refuses to reinstate an applicant for rein- 
statement after suspension for N.P.D., it must not keep the money 
sent to pay for reinstatement. Sov. 4872. 

The receipt of the Secretary for money sent to obtain reinstatement does 
not bind a Lodge to reinstate, but it does bind it to return the money, if he 
is not reinstated. 

785. When a reinstatement is perfected by payment of 
the money and vote of the Lodge, it cannot be reconsidered or 
annulled. 

786. A person reinstated after a dropping or expulsion 
does not become beneficiary for six months. [See. 548.) 



CHAPTER XXI. 
Appeals and Reinstatements. 

787. The ground of an appeal must be an error which 
affects the result of the proceeding against which appeal is taken. 
If it be seen that the error could not by any possibility have 
affected the result, the decision or proceeding will not be re- 
versed or set aside. Sov. 8108. 

788. A State Grand Body may entertain appeals from sus- 
pended or expelled members of its own subordinates, and may 
reconsider and reverse its own decisions in cases of appeal. It 
has power of interference and adjustment in difficulties arising 



ILLINOIS ODD-FELLOWS' CODE. 173 

between one of its subordinates and a subordinate in another 
jurisdiction. It may terminate the indefinite suspension of a 
member of a Subordinate Lodge for non-payment of dues, and, 
by reversal of the decision of a subordinate, may reinstate a 
suspended or expelled member without consent of his Lodge. 

Sov. 1405, 1476, 278, 809, 953, 7087. 

Under its power as an appellate body and its authority for the super- 
intendence of the Order and for the securing of justice in the action of 
subordinates, the Grand Lodge of Illinois has, in cases of appeals from 
trials, done these things : (i) has confirmed the action of Lodges absolutely ; 
(2) has dismissed appeals for incompleteness or informality ; (3) has reversed 
the action of a Lodge, sometimes with and sometimes without an order for 
a new trial ; (4) has approved substantial justice nvithout regard to informali- 
ties ; (5) has reversed sentences of condemnation when unjust, or when 
informally obtained ; (6) has reduced penalties or advised the reduction of 
them when too severe ; (7) has required the imposition of a penalty when a 
Lodge had failed to inflict after conviction or of a suitable penalty when that 
of the Lodge was unsuitable or illegal ; and finally (8) has required a Lodge 
to convict a member manifestly guilty, in some cases prescribing also the 
penalty. 

Examples of some of the above cases. — 4. Case from No. 13, 111. I, 234 ; 
No. 35, I, 256; No. 41, I, 301; No. 109, 1853, 79; No. 92, 1855, 66: later 
cases are rare, modes of procedure becoming better known ; one occurs in 
V, 776, from No. 53 ; one in VI, 792, from No. 193. 

5. Roots case. No. 97, 111. 1853, 56; 1854, 66; 1856, 114; 1857, 89; No. 
73, Low expelled for contempt; reversed. III, 95 ; No. 112, III, 36; No. 268, 
III, 343 ; No. 2, Miller case, error in neglect to grant a card, IV, 234; No. 
145, Martin case, rules of evidence involved, IV, 311 ; Reader case. No. 269, 
charges insufficient. III, 440 ; Hawkins case, No. 250, same cause, III, 441 ; 
Osborn case. No. 6, and Call case. No. 174, insufficient time allowed, IV, 
144, 314; Humble case, No. 343, sustaining charges voted on twice, IV, 221 ; 
No. 215, same point, IV, 11 ; Buckles case. No. 199, III, 95. 

6. Hagler case, No. 238, fine for non-attendance. III, 97-8 ; Kenned}'- 
case. No. 222, disregard of Sec. 752, III, 97; Shores case. No. 144, too 
severe, V, 21 ; Case case. No. 429, V, 80. 

7. Case of N. Willard, No. 64, I, 234; 1853, 34) 59' Gait case, No. 33, 
1855, 68 ; Newton case. No. 227, 111,95 ; case from No. 97, 1857, ^9 ; Shores 
case. No. 144, V, 21 ; case from No. 11, official misconduct, V, 22 ; cases 
from No. 337, suspension for one minute and one day, IV, 194; Derr case. 
No. 86, illegal fine, when law required reprimand, IV, 378 ; Jewsbury case. 
No. 4, no penalty after conviction, V, 355. 

8. McConnell case. No. 4, conviction and expulsion ordered on the state 
of facts shown if unchanged on new trial (1852), 1, 289 ; Kendall case (mis- 
printed Bendall), 1856, 55 ; Hukle case. No. 4 (1861), III, 258; Brown case 
(1866), No. 40, IV, 10 ; Rippe case (1868), No. 299, specific penalty ordered 
under Sec. 752, IV, 195; review allowed in 1871, V, 74; cases of Gorman 
and Schirmer (1871), specific penalty under Sec. 752 ordered, V, 20,24; Sohn 
case (1871), No. 36, new trial because conviction was necessary ; result, 
expulsion, V, 21, 99 ; Hall case (1871), No. 95, same cause, action and 
result, V, 22, 99; Weed case, Mason Lodge, No. 143 (1871), acquittal over- 
ruled and infliction of penalty ordered, V, 26; Lodge refused to act, and was 
suspended, V, 26; suspension confirmed, V, 80, 92, [in this case the Grand 
Master erred in omitting to order a conviction, V, 249 ; the Lodge submitted 



174 ILLINOIS ODD-FELLOWS' CODE, 

and was restored] ; Moore case, No. 149, finding reversed and expulsion 
ordered, V, 761 ; Holmes case, No. 253, same judgment, VI, 801 ; Faas case, 
No. 531, charges sustained and penalty ordered, VI, 781-2. 

The following cases, which fall into classes i and 3 above, are worthy of 
special note : The Casey case, resignation under charges disallowed, I, 301, 
310; cases of Lower and Coggeshall, Nos. 4 and 125, insufficiency and 
vagueness of charges, 1856, 42 ; 1857, 91 ; see, likewise, III, 169, 440, 441 ; 
Ruth case. No. 337, accused found guilty of injuring and scandalizing the 
Order by his business, grogshop-keeping, IV, 315; similar case, 1856, 55; 
Gladwell case. No, 73, expulsion revoked by Lodge without legal reason, IV, 
219; McNeall case. No. 84, failure of Lodge to perfect appeal against her 
own action adjudged as a default or confession, IV, 239 ; Sykes case. No, 
233, selling liquor without license, V, 574; Thompson case. No. 197, similar 
charge ; accused admitted facts and tried to justify ; expulsion approved, 
VI, 585 ; Martin case. No. 441, VI, 215 ; complaint dismissed without 
reason; Henderson case, Nos. 4, 243, 529, in VI, 909, 1012, 1033, and VII, 
120, 122, is peculiar. 

All the above cases are cases of appeal on trials, and not on points of law, 
right to benefits, etc. Of the cases appearing in the Journal, and not noted 
above, the compiler is of the opinion that reference to them would not add 
any information of value, either because they are plain cases and involve no 
other points of law than are shown by the above, or because the facts and 
law are, in many instances, not stated at all. From 1870 to 1878, inclusive, 
the reports of the Grand Masters stated the facts and the law of appealed 
cases quite fully; whoever wishes to study their jurisprudence will find 
abundance of material there. Later law (VI, 702) prevents the statement of 
cases so fully. 

Observe, that an appeal may be taken when a Lodge has unjustly acquitted 
a brother; this is recognized, not only by a large number of Illinois decisions, 
but by distinct enactment of the S.G.L., Journal 5776, given in Sec. 1003. 

789. An appeal confers upon a member under penalty no 
additional privileges or any different position than such as he is 
entitled to under the local law of his jurisdiction. Sov. 903. 

790. If a brother who takes an appeal stands suspended or 
expelled, he has no right to visit the Lodge against which he 
appeals, nor any other Lodge, during the pendency of the 
appeal. If a brother is acquitted on charges preferred and an 
appeal is taken against the action of the Lodge in acquitting 
him, he is, notwithstanding the appeal, entitled to all privileges 
and benefits of the Order to which he would be entitled if no 
such appeal were pending, except that he may not take a with- 
drawal card nor resign from the Order {^Secs. 487, 491) until the 
appeal is decided. 

791. General Appeal Laws of Illinois : 

Clause I. In all cases where a member of a Lodge has been 
fined, reprimanded, suspended or expelled by his Lodge, he may 
appeal to the Grand Lodge, by depositing with the Secretary of 



ILLINOIS ODD-FELLOWS' CODE. 175 

his Lodge, within three months after such sentence shall have 
been pronounced against him, a notice of appeal, with the 
grounds thereof; and thereupon the Lodge must, without delay, 
send to the Grand Secretary, under its seal, the aforesaid notice 
of appeal, together with certified copies of all minutes, charges, 
evidence, and other papers in the possession of the Lodge, or 
under its control, relating to the subject-matter of the appeal. 
Two or more members may unite in the same appeal; and 
where different members appeal for different reasons in the same 
case, they must give separate notices of appeal; but the Lodge 
need furnish but one copy of the proceedings and papers con- 
nected therewith. 

Clause 2. In all cases where a member of a Lodge has been 
deprived of some right, honor, privilege or benefit by his Lodge, 
he may appeal in the same manner. 

Clause 3. In all cases in which three members of a Lodge 
shall regard any proceedings of their Lodge in a matter of dis- 
cipline or grievance as illegal or unjust, they may in like manner 
appeal, whether they are parties to the proceedings or not. 

Clause 4. Appellants shall set forth in their papers the errors, 
illegalities or injustice against which they appeal. 

Clause 5. Any Lodge or member of a Lodge may appeal 
from any decision or action of a Deputy of the Grand Master, 
by giving him notice of such appeal within thirty days ; in 
which case the Deputy must report his action to the Grand 
Master forthwith, with copy of notice of appeal, and the Lodge 
shall send to the Grand Master a transcript of its record of the 
matter. 

Clause 6. The prosecution, the defense, or any member of a 
Lodge, may, during a trial, appeal to the Lodge from the decision 
of the Noble Grand, upon questions arising during the proceed- 
ings ; but no appeal to the Grand Lodge lies upon the decision 
of incidental questions during a trial; they may form exceptions 
and the basis of an appeal ; but an appeal to the Grand Lodge 
can only be taken after the decision of the entire case by the 
Lodge, which is binding until reversed by the Grand Lodge, or, 
under its authority, by the Grand Master. Sov. 3415. 

Clause 7. All appeals and grievances received by the Grand 
Secretary are to be examnied by him, for form and sufficiency. 
If he finds proceedings or papers informal or incomplete, he 
must notify the Lodge from which they come of such informal- 
ity or incompleteness; and it is lawful to rectify or amend any 



176 ILLINOIS ODD-FELLOWS' CODE. 

informality or supply any deficiency upon such notice given ; 
and the papers are then returned to the Grand Secretary. When 
the proceedings and papers are in form and complete, they must 
be sent to the Grand Master, who examines the case and decides 
the same ; and his decision is final, unless an appeal be taken to 
the Grand Lodge within one month after the Lodge receives the 
decision. 

Clause 8. If a Lodge neglects or refuses to send up appeal 
papers, the Grand Master or Grand Secretary, upon learning 
such facts, shall demand the papers without delay ; and if the 
Lodge still fails in its duty, it is liable to punishment. The 
Lodge can never prohibit an appeal or impose conditions upon 
the appellant. The Lodge must assist the appellant to perfect 
the form of his appeal, or return it to him for correction, or for- 
ward it to the Grand Lodge as received ; but may not refuse it 
for informality. If a Lodge fails to perfect an appeal against 
itself, thus allowing informality or incompleteness in the papers, 
it can have no advantage from its neglect, and the case may be 
examined and decided upon its merits, irrespective of form. 

Clause 9. All appeal papers in any case must be filed with 
the Grand Secretary at least ten days before the session of the 
Grand Lodge. Cases not so filed shall be considered only upon 
the order of the Grand Lodge by a two-thirds vote. 

792. Any three members feeling aggrieved by the decision 
of the Lodge in a trial shalLbe entitled to an appeal to the 
Grand Lodge, which appeal must be entered according to the 
laws and regulations of the Grand Lodge on the matter of ap- 
peals ; and, on command of the Grand Lodge, the brother may 
be tried anew for the same offense. 

Sub. Const., Art. vii, Sec. 15. 
When an appeal from the result of a trial is not taken by the 
accused, three members must join in it; but an accused party 
may appeal alone. 

793. A Lodge in which charges were preferred cannot ap- 
peal against the decision of a Lodge in which, by change of 
venue, the charges were tried. In case of change of venue from 
Lodge A to Lodge B after trial and findings by B, all papers, 
etc., with notice of findings, etc., are returned by B to A, and 
the judgment of B becomes the judgment of A, and is entered 
on its records. A must inflict the penalty, if any, fixed by B. 



ILLINOIS ODD-FELLOWS' CODE. 177 

The case is then, for purposes of appeal, as if no change of 
venue had ever been taken, and any member of Lodge A may 
appeal in the usual manner. Lodge A must send up the 
records to Grand Lodge according to law. 

794. On appeal, a Grand Lodge may consider and pass upon 
the sufficiency or insufficiency of the evidence to sustain the 
charge. The competency of witnesses may be impeached on 
appeal, even if not objected to on trial below. Sov. 8170. 

795. A member who is dropped from membership during 
the pendency of a trial, and the following week, as the result of 
the trial, is expelled, can take an appeal from the action of the 
Lodge declaring him dropped. 

796. In all cases where a minority has the legal right of 
appeal, and shall, Avithin the time limited by law, present to the 
Lodge its appeal, in writing, with all the facts, exceptions, assign- 
ment of errors and references to sustain such appeal, and said 
written appeal recites fully all the facts, and the same is read in 
open Lodge, and admitted by the Lodge to contain all the facts, 
the Lodge is bound either to enter the appeal thus presented in 
full on the minutes or to make a minute of the fact of the taking 
of the appeal, and direct the filing of the paper containing the 
admitted facts, exceptions, etc. And it is the duty of the Lodge, 
in transmitting the appeal to the proper superior tribunal, to 
accompany it with a certified transcript of all the proceedings 
and papers in the case. Sov. 5834-5. 

797. When by local law appeals must be taken within a 
limited time, and that time is allowed to pass without appeal, the 
right of appeal is gone and cannot be revived. In case of a 
claim, a second demand and second refusal will not authorize 
the appeal which should have been taken on the first denial. 
Nor may a Grand Lodge entertain an appeal in disregard of its 
own laws of limitation, nor suspend its laws and entertain an 
appeal after the legal time for it has expired. Sov. 3381, 3468. 

798. A resolution of a Grand Lodge requiring a member 
appealing to state his grounds of appeal, and providing that the 
Committee on Appeals shall not consider any other cause than those 
stated in the appeal, does not release the committee from other 
investigation required by the by-laws of the Grand Lodge, but 
imposes a duty upon the appellant. Sov. 5923. 

13 



178 ILLINOIS ODD-FELLOWS' CODE. 

799. When the fundamental laws of a Grand Lodge pro- 
vide that an appeal to it may be taken only on points of law, or 
irregularity or unfairness in the proceedings, it cannot review 
the findings of fact or the severity of the sentence. If a Lodge 
has the exclusive power delegated to it to fix a penalty, no 
appellate tribunal may disturb its decision. And when a 
suspended or expelled member appeals to his Grand Body on 
the ground of informality or want of fairness on his trial, such 
Grand Body cannot grant a new trial unless the averment of 
informality or unfairness be sustained, or unless new testimony 
be discovered. 6'<?z/. 4591-4 ; 817. 

800. When in an appealed case the Grand Lodge has 
acquitted an accused party, both on the law and on the facts, it 
cannot order a new trial on the same charges and for the same 
offense for the benefit of the Lodge or accusing party. 

Sov. 3818. 

801. A brother who pleads guilty to charges preferred 
against him, and upon whom the Lodge inflicts a penalty, has a 
right to appeal, inasmuch as the penalty may be disproportioned 
to the transgression. 

802. When an investigation is made, on an appeal, into 
the action of a Lodge, by a committee of a Grand Lodge 
appointed to examine and hear the case, the Lodge should have 
notice of the investigation, so as to have opportunity to be repre- 
sented before the committee : otherwise, the case should be 
reheard. Sov. 2919. ■ 

803. If a Lodge appeals to the Sovereign Grand Lodge 
against an order of its Grand Lodge that it shall pay certain 
benefits, it is bound, in the absence of any local law providing 
for the stay of proceedings pending the appeal, to pay the bene- 
fits in accordance with the decision of its superior, on payment 
being demanded. State Grand Lodges may undoubtedly pro- 
vide for a stay pending an appeal in such cases, or for the pay- 
ment of the amount due into the State Grand Lodge to abide 
the decision of the S.G.L. If the Lodge is not able to recover 
back the money in case the S.G.L. decides in its favor, this is 
the fault of the local authorities in not providing for a stay of 
proceedings in such cases. Sov. 5946. 

A Lodge in such case has no resource but to rely upon its case, refuse to 
pay, be suspended if the Grand Master so directs, surrender its charter 



ILLINOIS ODD-FELLOWS' CODE. 179 

and effects, and abide the result. Taking the Sangamon Lodge case as 
indicating a precedent, the Grand Master may stay proceedings under his 
general powers. 

804. An appeal may be taken from a Grand Lodge to the 
Sovereign Grand Lodge (i) by an expelled subordinate without 
consent of its Grand Body, provided it has surrendered all its 
effects; (2) by any subordinate with the consent of its Grand 
Body, in which case the consent of the Grand Body must appear 
in the appeal, duly certified ; (3) by a member or members of 
the Grand Body, upon questions of general interest to the entire 
Order or to his particular jurisdiction, but not upon questions of 
grievance to individual members or individual subordinates. 
An individual has not the right to appeal to the S.G.L., even 
with consent of his Grand Body, except as in the third case 
above, unless his Lodge be entirely subordinate to the S.G.L. 

Sov. Co7ist. /, Sec. 4; Sov. 930, 3593, 119, 120; 131, 3684, 
4339. 4388. 

The S.G.L. has allowed appeals in cases not described in the above law. 
It will be seen that by the law provision is made for appeals by Lodges or 
Encampments, and by members of Grand Bodies : if no other appeals were 
allowed, no injustice to an individual could be brought before the S.G.L., 
unless some member of the Grand Lodge were willing to take up his case 
and carry it forward. But m 1844 an individual appealed to the S.G.L. with 
consent of his Grand Lodge {Sov. 632, 686) : the committee reported a reso- 
lution to deny him the right of appeal, because it does not come within the 
cases specified in the law: the S.G.L. rejected the conclusions of the com- 
mittee, and by its practice ever since has decided that an individual member 
of a subordinate may appeal to that body, with the consent of his Grand 
Body, the presumption being that the Grand Body will allow those cases 
only to go up in which some principle or interest of sufficient importance is 
involved. If a brother appealing to his Grand Lodge wishes, in case the 
decision is against him, to appeal it to the Supreme authorit}^, he should 
send with his appeal a request for permission to appeal to the S.G.L., if he is 
decided against. The S.G.L. has gone still further: they have recognized 
as appellants women, wives of deceased Odd-Fellows, in cases on the 
Journals of 1B70, 1877, 1881, pp. 4873, 7428, 8650. 

805. An appeal to the S.G.L. may be taken from the decis- 
ion of a Grand Lodge on a hypothetical case. Sov. 6237. 

806. Appeals from State Grand Bodies may be submit- 
ted to the Grand Sire in recess; and his decisions are binding 
upon the parties until reversed by the Grand Lodge. 

Sov. Const.., Art. i, Sec. 4. 

807. In all cases of appeal to-the S.G.L., the Grand Body 
from which the appeal is taken is required to settle definitely all 
questions of fact in such appeal, duly certifying the same under 



180 ILLINOIS ODD-FELLOWS' CODE. 

the grand seal and the signatures of its executive and recording 
officers, so that the" sole business of the S.G.L. in the case shall 
be to determine the law applicable to the facts. The S.G.L. 
will entertain no appeal unless the facts of the case are so settled 
and certified. And when an appeal is taken from a Grand Body 
to the S.G.L., and the Grand Body fails to settle the questions 
of fact, or the proper officers thereof fail to certify them, such 
failure is deemed a sufficient reason for reversal of its decision, 
unless good reason be given for the neglect or failure. 

5^z/. 3532, 3714. 

In at least two cases {Sozk 3684, 4188) the S.G.L. has referred back ap- 
peals for the purpose of having the facts settled and certified. The S.G.L. 
has said that in cases where there is conflicting testimony the Subordinate 
Lodge is the proper body to decide as to its weight {Sov. 7347). And re- 
peatedly the S.G.L. has decided that it will not, on appeal, disturb the 
judgment of a subordinate, approved by its own Grand Body, when the 
question is one of fact only {Sov. 7347, 7364-5). But in 1881, in an appeal, 
the S.G.L. adopted a report which denied this principle. Hence the S.G.L, 
varies its practice upon this question {Sov. 8649). 

808. A party appealing to the S.G.L. must bring his 
appeal to the session of the S.G.L. next after the granting or 
taking of the appeal. If he fails to do so, his right lapses, and 
he cannot afterward bring his appeal without renewed consent 
of the body appealed from. Sov. 31 lo. 

8og. The S.G.L. w^ill consider no appeal at any session 
unless the papers of the appeal be placed in the hands of the 
Grand Secretary on or before the first day of the session. 

Sov. 6562. 

810. All appeal papers on appeals brought before the Sove- 
reign Grand Lodge must be furnished by the appealing parties, 
printed in pamphlet form, on a page of the same size as that of 
the printed Journal of Proceedings of that body ; and in default 
thereof the respective appeals are liable to be referred back for 
informality ; and of each appeal there must be furnished a 
sufficient number of copies to furnish one to each member of the 
S.G.L. Sov. 1 127, 2499. 

811. No Subordinate Lodge can reinstate an expelled 
member of its own motion. The consent of the Grand Lodge 
to which the Lodge is subordinate, or of the Grand Master, by 
its authority, is absolutely necessary to authorize the restoration. 
A Grand Lodge may grant a Grand Master the power to restore 
an expelled member on the petition of his Subordinate Lodge. 

Sov. 5280, 5919, 4467. 



ILLINOIS ODD-FELLOWS' CODE. 181 

8 1 2. A member expelled must first apply to his former 
Lodge ; and if that Lodge wishes to pass upon his case, it must, 
by petition, obtain the consent of its Grand Body : that consent 
being obtained, the whole matter goes to the Subordinate Lodge 
under its by-laws and the general laws of the Order. With 
these limitations, the manner of reinstating expelled members 
belongs to local legislation. Sov. 6275. 

813. A member expelled by this Lodge may apply in 
writing for reinstatement. The application shall be referred to 
a committee of three, who shall ascertain whether the applicant 
has made such reformation, reparation or apology as is appro- 
priate, and shall report to the Loage. After reception of the 
report, the Lodge shall ballot on the application. If two-thirds 
of the members present shall vote in favor of reinstatement, th.e 
Secretary shall write to the Grand Lodge for permission to rein- 
state him ; and if it be granted, he shall be thereby reinstated. 
No expelled member shall be reinstated wdthout the payment of 
the same fee that is required from an initiate of the same age. 
But members expelled for non-payment before such action was 
forbidden shall be reinstated as dropped members. 

Sub. Const.., Art. viii, Sec. 5. 

814. A member expelled in one jurisdiction cannot be 
honorably or legally reinstated in another jurisdiction, except 
with the consent of the Lodge which expelled him; and any 
reinstatement in violation of this law is void, entirely. 

Sov. Const., Art. xvi, Sec. 4; Sov. 1775. 

815. A member expelled in another jurisdiction can be 
admitted to membership in Illinois only upon withdrawal card 
from the Lodge that expelled him, or some equivalent paper, as 
a dismissal certificate, or the written consent of the expelling 
Lodge. 

816. A brother who is under suspension for a specified 
time (Sec. 732) cannot be restored to membership until that 
time shall have expired, unless by action of the Grand Lodge 
[or Grand Master]. Sov. 2171. 

817. When a Lodge has suspended a member for other 
cause than N.P.D., it may, on reinstatement, commute or remit 
such portion of his accumulated dues (if unpaid) as it may de- 
termine. {Sec. 451.) Sov. 5513-14. 



182 ILLINOIS ODD-FELLOIVS' CODE. 

8i8. Reinstatement (except after dropping) requires the 
same vote as expulsion, viz, two-thirds of the members present, 
except in cases where a different majority is specifically required 
by law. No conditions or terms can be offered by the applicant 
for reinstatement, or prescribed by the Lodge, but those pre- 
scribed by law. A person cannot be reinstated into any other 
than his own Lodge or by its consent. (ySecs. 363, 814.) 

819. Petitions to the Grand Lodge for the reinstatement 
of expelled members must be accompanied by a statement of the 
cause of the expulsion, and of the principal facts of the case : 
they must also show that the expelled member has made 
such reformation or reparation or apology as is appropriate. 

820. All petitions for reinstatement which are in accord- 
ance with law (as given in Sec. 819) may go to the Grand Master 
and be acted upon by him in recess of the Grand Lodge. 

821. When a brother has been expelled, suspended for'any 
cause, or dropped, his name should not be erased from the list 
of signatures to the constitution and by-laws; consequently it is 
not necessary that he should sign again. 

There is no law requiring or allowing the erasure of the signature made 
at admission, at any time or under any circumstances ; and the custom of 
erasing names current in some Lodges was probably borrowed from another 
Order. 

822. A member who is reinstated after expulsion is by rein- 
statement placed in the same position as if he had never been 
expelled, and recovers all lost privileges and honors. 

There are exceptions in Sees. 548 and 753. 



CHAPTER XXII. 
Passwords. 

823. The signs, grips and passwords of the Order are 
designed to speak one universal language to the initiated of 
every nationality the world over. Therefore the Annual and 
Pei^manent Passzvords of the degrees are not to be translated 
into any other language, or spoken other than as they are written, 



ILLINOIS ODD-FELLOWS' CODE. 183 

spelled and pronounced in the English language. The different 
nations must learn to give them the one universal sound as 
nearly as possible, so that the sound of the word will be as 
familiar to the ear as the signs are to the eye, or the grip to the 
tourch of the hand ; to the end that an Odd-Fellow of any coun- 
try may be known and recognized in any part of the habitable 
globe as a brother. The language used in describing and 
explaining the use, meaning and manner of performing the 
signs, grip, etc., may be in the tongue of the peoples in which 
the Lodges are working. Sov. 7532. 

824. The following passwords are in use in the Order, viz : 
(i) The Degree P.Ws, which are never changed. 

(2) The Term P.W., which is given by each Grand Body to 
its subordinates, different in different jurisdictions. It is changed 
semi-annually or otherwise, as the Grand Lodge of a jurisdiction 
may direct, which may use a quarterly P.W. ; and when a Grand 
Lodge changes the term of its subordinates from six months to 
one year, the Term P.W, issued by the Grand Master lasts 
during the year, unless his Grand Lodge determines to have 
two or more passwords for the term, 

(3) The Annual Traveling P,W., given by the Grand Sire, 
current for one year beginning January 1st, for the use of 
brothers who have cards, 

(4) The Annual P.W. of the Degree of Rebekah, given by the 
Grand Sire for each year, and communicated to every person, 
male or female, of that degree. 

(5) The Rebekah S.A.P.W,, used in the Degree Lodge D, of 
R. only, and given by the Grand Master of the jurisdiction. 

(6) The Vice Grand's E.P.W., used only in the Third Degree, 
Usage and Ritual : U.S. Digest of 1847,^, 35 ; Sov. 16, 8166, 

8209. 

825. Passwords are to be used [subject to the instructions 
given in the secret work and in conferring degrees] at any time 
or place, to prove whether a brother is what he represents him- 
self to be. 

826. A member of a Lodge who is in arrears for dues more 
than thirteen weeks is not entitled to the Term P.W. But there 
is no general law that a brother deprived of benefits by reason 
of arrears shall not receive the Term P.W. Sov. 7505, 6216. 

See the whole of this important law, with a comment upon it and an 
enactment of the Grand Lodge of Illinois on the same subject, in Sec, 764. 



184 ILLINOIS ODD-FELLOWS' CODJS. 

827. If a member, of Lodge A, before installation in his 
own Lodge, seeks to visit Lodge B, which has had installation 
and has the new Term P.W. in use, he cannot be admitted to 
Lodge B on the old Term P.W. Sov. 5502; 

828. No brother is permitted to vouch for the good standing 
of another to obtain admittance for him. 

829. The Grand Master and his Deputies can legally give 
the passwords only in the discharge of their official duties, and 
only to the presiding officers [N.G. and V.G., Sec. 834], or at 
the request of the presiding officer, and in no case without the 
legal qualification. 

830. To members of Lodges the Noble Grand alone is 
authorized to communicate the Term P.W., or cause.it to be 
communicated, by the Warden or other member. The Noble 
Grand of one Lodge may give the Term P.W. to a member of 
another Lodge of the same jurisdicHon upon the written request 
of the Noble Grand of the Lodge to which the brother belongs, 
under its seal. Ritual: ^S^z^. 2826, 6350. 

831. The Supporter of the Noble Grand temporarily occu- 
pying the chair {Sees. 283-4) has no right to authorize a brother 
to confer the term-word upon another brother, nor, except under 
order of the Noble Grand, to give it himself. Ritual: Sov. 4240. 

832. The Term P.W. is to be given when required by the 
proper officer, but not in the form of question and reply. 

833. Past Grands deputed to officiate as Grand Officers at 
the installation of officers of Subordinate Lodges, and such 
other members of a Grand Lodge as may assemble to aid in 
those ceremonies, are required before entering the ante-room to 
give the same password that is demanded of other brothers ; but 
after the Lodge has been duly informed by the Grand Marshal of 
the presence in the ante-room of the installing officers, no pass- 
word should be required of them at the inner door. The Grand 
Officers of State Grand Lodges, when visiting the Subordinate 
Lodges under their own jurisdiction, should give at the outside 
door the same password that is required of other brothers. 

Sov. 1840, 1992. 

834. The A.T.P.W. is designed only for the use of breth- 
ren who are traveling beyond the limits of the jurisdiction to 



ILLINOIS ODD-FELLOWS' CODE. 185 

which they belong ; but may also be used in the jurisdiction to 
which brothers belong who have received it in good faith for 
said primary purpose ; and in order that each brother entitled to 
it may be properly instructed therein, and that visiting brethren 
from other jurisdictions may be properly examined, the Noble 
Grand and Vice Grand of a Lodge, and the Chief Patriarch and 
Senior Warden of an Encampment, are to be privately put in 
possession thereof at the time of their installation, that they may 
be qualified either to give or receive it. The Grand Master and 
Grand Patriarch of a state, and their regular deputies, should 
also be in possession of it. None other than members who are 
placed in some of the positions above mentioned are entitled to 
receive it. Past Grands, as such, are not entitled to it, more than 
others : the holder of a dismissal certificate is not entitled to it. 
So%>. By-Lazvs, Arts, xiv, xxv, 664, 802. 

The origin of the A.T.P.W. appears on February 22, 1824, in this resolu- 
tion : " Resolved^ That a T.P.W. be adopted for the protection of the Order 
in the United States." {Sov. 64.) 

835. If a brother applying for a visiting or final card be 
absent from the location of his Lodge, so that he cannot obtain 
the A.T.P.W. with his card m person, it is the duty of the proper 
officers, upon the granting of such cards, to transmit the same to 
the brother, and also send therewith a letter in the following 
form, to -wit : 

Lodge, No. — ," 

, State of , - 

day of , 18 — . 

To the Noble Grand of any Lodge of the I. O. O.F. 

The bearer. Brother , holding a legal Card from this , 

dated this day of , 18 — , for the period of months, is entitled 

to the A.T.P.W. for the current year, which please communicate to him 
after due examination, whereupon you will retain or destroy this letter. 

[seal] , N. G. 

Attest : , Secretary. 

Sov. 3560-61. 

Case. — A Lodge granted a withdrawal card and it was sent to the brother ; 
but, through the negligence of the Noble Grand, it was not accompanied by 
an order for the Annual Traveling Password, and before the brother could 
write for it the Lodge surrendered its charter. Held, That the Grand 
Master of the jurisdiction could give the brother the Annual Traveling Pass- 
word. {Sov. 8211.) 

836. Any Noble Grand to whom the order for the A.T.P.W. 

is presented with the card not only may, but 7nust, invest the 
holder with the A.T.P.W. Sov. 2146. 



186 ILLINOIS ODD-FELLOWS' CODE. 

837. Any Noble Grand receiving an order for the Term 
P.W. must give the same. The order for the A.T.P.W. must 
be given by the officers as a matter of course, and without a vote 
of the Lodge. 

838. The Annual Traveling Password which a brother 
is required to prove himself" in possession of, when he offers to 
visit a subordinate on a visiting or unexpired withdrawal card, 
or is an applicant for membership therein by deposit of a 
proper card, is the A.T.P.W. of the year in which the card was 
issued and bears date. It should be given him by one of the 
chief officers of his own Lodge. Grand Officers can impart it 
only in the line of official duty. Even the Grand Sire has no 
right to authorize a Grand Master to communicate the A.T.P.W. 
to the holder of a withdrawal card to enable him to visit. 

^^^7^.3876,1251,3513; U.S.Digest of \%/\,^,p.z^' 

839. When a withdrawal card has been granted to a mem- 
ber, and the recipient forgets the A.T.P.W., the Noble Grand 
of the Lodge from which the brother withdrew has authority 
again to communicate the A.T.P.W. on the presentation of the 
card within one year from the date of this issue, and it is his 
duty so to do. Sov. 6559. 

840. When State Grand Officers grant cards under the 
general law, the brother receiving the card is entitled to the 
A.T.P.W.; and a Noble Grand must communicate the same to 
the brother on his presenting a certificate from the Grand Secre- 
tary who issued the same, requesting the word to be given. 

Sov. 5280, 8699. 

At times a different law has prevailed : the A.T.P.W. was not given with 
a Grand Lodge card ; but it is now settled that it shall be given. 

841. The Representatives of a Grand Lodge at each ses- 
sion of the S.G.L. are to receive the Traveling Password from 
the Grand Sire, and are to deliver the same, on their return, to 
the Grand Master of their Grand Lodge privately; it should not 
be openly announced in the Grand Lodge session. The Grand 
Master communicates it to the Grand Secretary, and causes it to 
be communicated to the Deputies and other installing officers. 

Usage, f 07' 7nerly written law ; Sov. 16, 7173* 

842. If any state be without a Grand Representative, it is 
the duty of the Grand Sire to transmit the word, in due season, 
through some other safe channel, to the state authorities. 

U.S. Digest of 1847, /• 35- 



ILLINOIS ODD-FELLOWS' CODE. 187 

843. The Annual P.W. of the Degree of Rebekah should 
be given by ladies at the outer door, in working their way into 
a Rebekah-Degree meeting of a Subordinate Lodge : it is also 
used as a proof test of membership, and with a card issued by 
a Degree Lodge D. of R. SoiJ. 1933, 8166, 8182. 

844. The Term P.W. of the Subordinate Lodge is not to be 
used in a Rebekah-Degree Lodge. Instead of it, the S.A.P.W. 
of the Rebekah-Degree Lodge [Sec. 894) is to be used at the 
outer door. Sov. 7456, 8166. 

845. Any member of a Lodge, or visitor, who has retired 
and wishes to reenter the Lodge the same evening may use the 
Vice Grand's E.P.W. or the regular mode of entering. 

Sov. 5249, and RitiiaJ. 



CHAPTER XXIII. 
Degrees and Rank. 

846. The degrees proper of a Subordinate Lodge are the 
First Degree, or Degree of Friendship ; the Second Degree, or 
Degree of Brotherly Love; and the Third Degree, or Degree of 
Truth. The Third Degree is also called in the Ritual " the 
Scarlet Degree or Priestly Order." The degrees must be taken 
in the order of their number. The first and second are 
not designated at any time by their colors. The term " Initia- 
tory Degree " is used to signify that grade or position in the 
Order into which one is brought by initiation, before taking 
any of the degrees proper, above named. A meeting is said to 

• be in the Initiatory Degree when held so as to admit all mem- 
bers, irrespective of grade. Ritual. 

See in Appendix No. V a history of the degrees and the introduction of 
them. 

847. A brother who has the first and second, or first, second 
and third degrees of the work as it stood prior to 1880, is to be 
ranked as of the first degree of the new work ; if he has the 
fourth degree of the old, he is to be reckoned of the new second ; 
if he has the old fifth, he is ranked as of the new third. The same 



188 ILLINOIS ODD-FELLOWS' CODE. 

rule must determine the rank of an Ancient Odd-Fellow, or 
reinstated member, or holder of a dismissal certificate, who has 
not received the new work. Sov. 8412, 8534. 

848. Brothers who have been in membership one month 
shall be eligible for degrees, but not more than two degrees shall 
be conferred on a brother at the same meeting, except under 
dispensation. Sub. Const., Art. vi, Sec. i. 

849. A brother is eligible for degrees when he has been in 
membership one month, to wit, on the fourth regular meeting 
after his initiation, and no sooner; provided, however, that, 
upon sufficiently urgent reasons, degrees may be given sooner 
upon a dispensation obtained from the Grand Master or the 
Deputy in charge of the Lodge. 

850. A member desiring to receive any degree shall apply 
for the same in open Lodge at a regular meeting, or cause the 
application to be so made in his name. The application must 
state the degree or degrees required, and must be entered upon 
the records, and the subject referred to degree session; where- 
upon the Lodge shall, after having been closed in the Initiatory 
Degree, be opened in the degree or degrees applied for, when 
the application or applications shall be balloted upon in the 
respective degrees ; and such ballots shall be had in all things, 
according to Sec. 6 of Art. II of this Constitution (^Sec. 405); 
but the conferring of the degrees may be done at special meet- 
ings called for that purpose. Sub. Const., Art. vi, Sec. 2. 

The above section of the constitution is given as it stands at the present 
time (June 1882) ; but the recent change of the working degree from the 
Initiatory to the Third Degree makes this inconsistent with the laws of the 
Sovereign Grand Lodge and with the Rituals. The compiler has no inten- 
tion to make a law as a substitute for the section above given ; but he gives 
the following as the present law corresponding thereto : 

" The application of any member who desires to receive any 
degree shall be presented at a regular meeting : it must specify the 
degree or degrees desired, and be accompanied by the fee there- 
for. The application shall be acted upon by ballot vote : the 
ballot box shall be placed on a stand near the center of the 
room and the Noble Grand shall supervise the balloting, pro- 
ceeding according to Sec. 6 of Art. II of this Constitution {Sec. 
405) ; but the conferring of the degrees may be done at special 
meetings called for that purpose." 



ILLINOIS ODD-FELLOWS' CODE. 189 

851. It is illegal for a Deputy to grant a dispensation to 
allow the conferring of a degree for which regular application 
has not been made to the Lodge. 

852. No more than one candidate for degrees shall be 
balloted for at the same time. (See Sec. 402.) 

853. When a ballot has been had on an application for 
degrees, and they have been refused to the applicant, six months 
must elapse before his application can again be balloted upon. 

Sub. Const., Art. vi, Sec. 4. 

854. The fees for degrees applied for must be paid when 
the application is made, before the ballot. (See Sec. 429.) 

855. If fees for degrees are paid and the brother with- 
draws before receiving the degrees, the money must be refunded. 

856. A Lodge is not obliged to give^ a member degrees ; 
every one must pass the ballot before he can receive them ; and 
the voters have unquestionable right to refuse to grant the 
degrees. Sov. 5279, 5919. 

857. The character and conduct of an applicant for 
degrees previous to his admission into the Order cannot affect 
his eligibility to degrees ; but when a brother is a candidate for 
degrees, the brothers voting on his application should be guided 
solely by their judgment on the question whether he is, at the 
time, worthy or not. 

858. Degrees may not be conferred by a committee or 
special part of the Lodge assigned for that purpose. It is the 
duty of the Noble Grand to confer degrees. Sov. 6978, 7041. 

This is the law of the S.G.L., repeatedly affirmed ; but the new Ritual 
speaks of a Degree Committee. In the absence of declaratory legislation, 
this mere m(mtion will not authorize a Lodge to appoint such a committee 
and assign the degree work to it. 

859. No Lodge can confer degrees upon a member of 
another Lodge but with the consent of the Lodge to which the 
member belongs. If this law be violated, the Lodge conferring 
the degrees must pay the amount of fees to the Lodge of which 
the recipient of the degrees was a member. But the Degree of 
Rebekah, being a side degree, may be conferred without the 
consent of the Lodge to which a brother belongs. 

Sov. By-Law, Art. xii ; Sov. 4069 ,• U. S. Digest of \%\'] , /. 53 ; 
Grand Sire'' s instrtictions in Rebekah-Deo-ree Ritual. 



190 ILLINOIS ODD-FELLOWS' CODE. 

860. A member absent from this Lodge who shall have 
been elected to receive any of the degrees may, upon applica- 
tion, receive a certificate requesting any Lodge to which it may 
be presented to confer upon him the degree or degrees therein 
specified. Sub. Const. ^ Arl. vi, Sec. 3. 

861. An application to authorize a brother to receive his 
degrees away from the location of his Lodge must be made to 
his Lodge at a regular session. The Lodge may not give a ter- 
tificate to receive the degrees until the fees are paid. It is the 
duty of any Lodge, whether Subordinate or Degree Lodge, 
upon the presentation of a duly authenticated degree certificate, 
if the holder is in good standing, to confer the degrees upon 
the candidate holding and presenting such certificate, without 
regard to his recollection of the prior degree work. 

Sov. 4240, 4069, 5553. 

862. The Nobl^ Grand, or the Lodge by resolution, may 
call special meetings for initiation or for conferring degrees. 

863. No charges, lectures [Sec. 6), degrees, ceremonies or 
regalia can be used unless prescribed by the S.G.L. (See Sec. 
37, above). Nor is it consistent with propriety for any one to 
make or use any writings relating to the degrees or work of the 
Order, unless the same be done under authority of the S.G.L. 
The form for opening and closing in degree work is to be used 
by Subordinate Lodges in all cases. Sov. 1785, 3512, 3558. 

864. No Lodge room of the Order may be used for the 
rehearsal or conferring of any degrees or secret work not 
authorized by its existing laws. Any officer of a Grand or Sub- 
ordinate Lodge who aids or permits such degrees to be conferred 
in a Lodge room of the Order is guilty of violation of its laws. 
But this law is not to be applied to affect the proceedings of 
other secret associations not under the color of O'dd-Fellowship, 
but meeting in the Lodge rooms of this Order. Rehearsal of 
the " Old Work " is thus prohibited. 

Sov. By-Law, Ai^L xx ; Sov. 3877, 4855. 

865. Rank does not mean the highest degree one has 
received, but highest official title or grade. Sov. 4993. 

866. If a Past Grand, member of a Grand Lodge, is ex- 
pelled from that body, retaining membership in his subordinate, 
he ranks in his Lodge as a Past Grand, Sov. 4129, 4197. 



ILLINOIS ODD-FELLOWS' CODE. 191 

867. Subordinate Lodges are not obliged to send their 
members to a Degree Lodge to receive the degrees, although 
the Degree Lodge may be in the same city or town. 

A Subordinate Lodge does not relinquish its prerogative (an 
inherent right) to confer the degrees on its own members, either 
of the five degrees, or the Degree of Rebekah, by agreeing 
that a Degree Lodge shall be instituted. 

Sov. 4652, 5280, 5497, 6350. 

868. Degree Lodges can confer degrees only on certificates 
issued by Subordinate Lodges, in which application must be had 
and voted on. Qualifications for office are determined by local 
legislation. The presiding officer is called Degree Master, but 
has no title or honorary distinction as a Past Officer. The V.G. 
of a Degree Lodge is entitled the " Deput}^ Degree Master"; 
the R. and L. Supporters of the N.G. and V.G. become the first, 
second, third and fourth "Assistant Degree Masters"; the Sec- 
retar}% Treasurer, Past Grand, Warden, Conductor and Guardians 
are officers as in the Subordinate Lodge. Other officers as 
required may be created by local legislation. 

Sov. 1449, 1476, 3180, and Ritual. 

Degree Lodges are bodies chartered by Grand Lodges for the purpose of 
conferring degrees only : they were first formed in Pennsylvania about 1830, 
and are the creatures of local legislation entirely, though recognized by the 
S.G.L. The first Degree Lodge in Illinois was authorized at Alton, in 1839 » 
the next in Chicago, in 1850 ; and a third in Peoria, in 1856. Prior to the 
session of the Grand Lodge in i860, all these had surrendered their charters. 
For history'' of them as appearing on the Journals, and for legislation respect- 
ing them, see the references. — U. S. Digest, title ''Degree Lodges" : Sov. 
108, 868, 951, 1476, 1399, 1449, 3180, 6350; ///. /, 9, 213; 1856, 96, 123, 152 ; 
///, 152, 168; F//, 66, 86. 

*** Concerning P.O. Degrees, see Chapter X ; concerning the G.L. 
Degree, see Chapter II ; and concerning the Rebekah Degree and Rebekah- 
Degree Lodges, see Chapter XXIV. 



CHAPTER XXIV. 
The Rebekah Degree and Rebekah-Degree Lodges. 

869. The Grand Lodges subordinate to the S.G.L. are not 

required to accept the Rebekah Degree and to give it to their 
subordinates ; acceptance is at their option. Sov. 5 191. 



192 ILLINOIS ODD-FELLOWS' CODE. 

870. The Degree of Rebekah is an honorary or side 
degree, conferred as a privilege, of which members are not 
required to avail themselves, but vi^hich is to be-conferred upon 
Third-Degree members and upon their wives, if they desire to 
receive it. It may be claimed as a right by all such, without 
ballot; and no fee or pecuniary compensation for it may be 
charged. One Lodge may confer it upon a member of another 
Lodge and upon his wife, without consent of the Lodge to which 
he belongs, if he be in good standing. 

Sov. 1793, 1841, 2561, 3181 reversed by 3234, and Instructions 

in Ritual of D. of R. 

871. Subordinate Lodges may confer the Degree of Re- 
bekah upon all persons that are qualified by the laws of the Order 
to receive it. Sov. 8176. 

872. Except when conferred in a Rebekah-Degree Lodge, 
the Rebekah Degree can be conferred only by the regular officers 
of a Subordinate Lodge, at a special meeting of the Lodge held 
for that purpose. 

873. A Degree Lodge may not confer the Degree of 
Rebekah. • Sov. 6007. 

874. General Statement of Eligibility. The following 
may receive the Rebekah Degree: (i) All members of the 
Third Degree in good standing, Sec. 870. (2) The wives of such 
members, Sec. 870. (3) The widow of an Odd-Fellow who 
was in good standing, at the option of his Lodge, Sec. 875, but 
not the widow of the holder of a withdrawal card. Sec. 880. 
(4) An unmarried daughter of an Odd-Fellow of the Third 
Degree, over eighteen years of age, including one who is out of 
w^edlock by widowhood or divorce, Sees. 876, 879. (S) A 
legally adopted daughter of the same qualification. Sec. 878. 
(6) A lady of the same qualification who is sister of an Odd- 
Fellow of the Third Degree, Sees. 876, 879. (7) The unmar- 
ried daughter of an Odd-Fellow^ of any degree, whose parents 
are dead, she being eighteen years of age. Sec. 877*. 

Prior to the session of the S.G.L. in 1879, ladies of the classes numbered 
4, 5, 6 and 7, above, could not receive the Rebekah Degree except by becom- 
ing members of a Degree Lodge D. of R. 

875. The widow of an Odd-Fellow, whether he had or 
had not attained the Third Degree, but who was in good stand- 
ing at the time of his death, may receive the Degree of Rebekah, 



ILLINOIS ODD-FELLOWS' CODE. 193 

at the option of the Lodge of which her husband was a member 
at the tmie of his death. Sov. 1934, 3230, 4384. 

876. The unmarried daughters of Odd-Fellows of the 
Third Degree, who are above the age of eighteen years, when 
proposed by either parent or by a guardian, and unmarried 
sisters of Odd-Fellows of the Third Degree when proposed by 
their brothers, are suitable candidates for admission into Lodges 
of the Degree of Rebekah. Sov. 7852. 

877. The unmarried daughter of an Odd-Fellow of any 
degree who has attained the age of eighteen years, and whose 
parents are dead, may be admitted to membership in a Lodge of 
the Degree of Rebekah when proposed by the Noble Grand of 
the Lodge of which her father was a member at the time of his 
death; and the unmarried daughter of an Odd-Fellow of the 
Third Degree, who is eighteen years old and wdiose parents are 
dead, may be proposed in the same way or by a member of a 
Lodge of the Degree of Rebekah, when furnished with a cer- 
tificate from the Subordinate Lodge of which the father was a 
member that he had attained the Third Degree and was in good 
standing at the time of his death. [The only difference in these 
two cases is that the daughter of an Odd-Fellow of the Third 
Degree may be proposed by others than the Noble Grand of her 
father's Lodge.] ^^z/. 8477, 8717. 

878. A legally adopted daughter of a Third-Degree 
member is eligible to receive the Degree of Rebekah, where the 
local civil law provides for adoption, and such adoption creates 
the legal relation of parent and child : in no other case can the 
applicant be a " daughter" within any definition of that term: 
step-daughters are not eligible unless so adopted. Sov. 8337. 

879. An unmarried divorced daughter or sister of a 
Third-Degree member is eligible to membership in a Degree 
Lodge D. of R. A widow who is such daughter or sister is 
equally eligible. Sov. 821 1, 7909. 

880. The widow of an Odd-Fellow in possession of a with- 
drawal card at the time of his death is not entitled to the Degree 
of Rebekah. 

881. If an Odd- Fellow holds a withdrawal card, his wife, 
herself having the Degree of Rebekah, has a right to a seat in 

• 14 



194 ILLINOIS ODD-FELLOWS' CODE. 

a Lodge when open in that degree, so long as the card is current, 
if she is accompanied by her husband. 

882. An unsuspended brother or a sister of the Degree of 
Rebekah, in possession of the permanent and annual passwords 
of that degree, whether in arrears or not, has a right to visit 
and sit in any Subordinate Lodge working in said degree. 

883. A sister of the Degree of Rebekah may retain her 
membership in a Rebekah-Degree Lodge irrespective of the 
standing of her husband in the Order; and the membership of 
a sister of the Degree of Rebekah who may marry a person not 
a member of the Order shall not depend upon or be governed 
by the relation which such person may hold to the Order. 

Sov. 

884. A Rebekah-Degree Lodge can confer the degree 
upon a member of a Subordinate Lodge who presents the proper 
certificate, although he does not apply for membership in said 
Degree Lodge. The annual and the permanent passwords of 
the degree alone are to be given in such case. Such conferring 
of the degree shall be at the option of the Degree Lodge, 
which may refuse to confer degrees except upon applicants for 
membership therein. Sov. 7909, 8166, 8182-3, 8204. 

885. The certificates for conferring the Degree of Rebekah 
must be as follows : 

Hall of Lodge, No. , I.O.O.F. "I 

Illinois, , 18 — . j 

To Rebekah-Degree Lodge No. 

You are hereby authorized and requested to confer the Degree of Rebekah 

upon Brothers , and upon the wives of Brothers , and the 

widows of Brothers , who made apphcation for the Degree in this 

Lodge, and who are entitled to receive the same. 
Yours in F. L. and T., 

[seal] , N. G. 

, Sec'y. 

Section 915 gives a different form, for a different purpose : both must be 
used. This authorizes and requests the conferring of the degree : the other 
one must be given separately to each lady or to each brother, and accom- 
pany this general request. 

886. Degree Lodges of the Daughters of Rebekah are 
authorized to ballot on all applications for membership in such 
Lodges; and a majority vote of all members present and voting 
is necessary for an election to membership, except in jurisdic- 
tions whose laws provide otherwise. Sov. 5187. 



ILLINOIS ODD-FELLOWS' CODE. 195 

887. A Rebekah- Degree Lodge may, by its by-laws, re- 
quire a fee for admission to membership. 

888. Grand Lodges are authorized and empowered to 
institute Degree Lodges of the Daughters of Rebekah at such 
places as they may deem proper within their territorial limits, 
to possess the powers and enjoy the privileges following : 

Clause I. To confer the Degree of Rebekah on such Third- 
Degree members and their wives as present a certificate from a 
Lodge located in the district designated in the charter of such 
Degree Lodge, and also to confer the said degree on other 
persons duly qualified to receive the degree. 

Clause 2. To elect and appoint their own officers in the man- 
ner prescribed by their by-laws. The elective officers to consist 
of a N.G., V.G., Secretary, and Treasurer, and, if so provided 
in their by-laws, a Financial Secretary. The appointed officers 
to consist of a W., C, O.G., I.G., R. and L.S. of N.G., R. 
and L.S. of V.G. The only qualification for office in a Rebekah- 
Degree Lodge shall be, first, the officer shall be an actual con- 
tributing member in good standing in such Lodge ; second, no 
member shall be eligible to the office of Noble Grand unless 
previous service is shown in the office of Vice Grand in a 
Rebekah-Degree or Subordinate Lodge. All officers shall hold 
their offices for six months or one year, as prescribed by the Sub- 
ordinate Grand Lodge. 

Clause 3. To hold regular and special meetings, as provided 
by the by-laws. 

Clause 4. To fix and establish dues, to be paid monthly, 
quarterly, semi-annually, or annually, as the by-laws may pro- 
vide, and to provide by by-laws when those in arrears for dues 
shall be dropped from the roll of members. Any brother or 
sister within the district designated in the charter may become a 
member on paying the dues provided by the by-laws ; and any 
brother may continue such member so long as he remains a mem- 
ber of his Subordinate Lodge in good standing and pays his 
dues to the Degree Lodge ; and any sister may remain a member 
so long as she remains his widow and pays her dues to the 
Lodge. All Degree Lodges shall consist of at least ten mem- 
bers, five of each sex, and all in good standing shall participate 
in the proceedings of the Lodge. [For the business quorum, 
see Sec. 914.] 

Clause 5. To pay and disburse from the funds of the Lodge, 



196 ILLINOIS ODD-FELLOWS' CODE. 

for the relief of the sick, the destitute, or the distressed, from 
time to time, as a majority of the members present shall by vote 
determine, or as shall be otherwise provided by the by-laws. 

Clause 6. To establish such by-laws and rules of order, not 
inconsistent herewith or with the rules, usages and general 
regulations of the Order, as they may deem proper, subject, 
however, to the approval of the Grand Lodge to which they are 
subordinate. Sov. 4383-4, 7456. 

889. The Grand Master is authorized to grant dispensations 
for Rebekah- Degree Lodges on the application of not less than 
ten qualified members (five of each sex), if there be no other 
Rebekah-Degree Lodge in the place, and ten of each sex if there 
be already one or more such Lodges in said place, to work in the 
Degree of Rebekah, in accordance with the laws of the Sovereign 
Grand Lodge. A petition for a charter must be accompanied 
by a certificate of the standing of the applicants, signed by the 
Secretary and under the seal of the Subordinate Lodge in which 
their names are enrolled as members of the Degree of Rebekah, 
with the fee for charter and the Degree Books, which fee is ten 
dollars. 

8go. No new Lodge of the Degree of Rebekah shall be 
instituted in tow^ns or cities (Chicago excepted) where one or 
more Lodges D. of R. shall exist, except upon consent of a 
majority of the members of such Lodges. 

891. The organization of a Rebekah-Degree Lodge in any 
district does not supersede or interfere with the right of any 
subordinate in the same district to confer the Rebekah-Degree. 
[Sec. 867.) Sov. 4652. 

892. The Grand Master shall appoint a Deputy for each 
Rebekah Lodge, to install the officers of such Lodge, and 
perform such other duties in connection therewith as pertain 
to said office [Sec. 914-15). The commission of such Deputy 
shall, unless otherwise specified, take effect on the first of January 
of the year for which he is appointed. In no case may the 
officers of any Rebekah Lodge be installed until the Deputy of 
said Lodge has ascertained that its reports have been made and 
executed in proper form. 

893. The annual password of the Rebekah Degree shall 
be given both in Subordinate Lodges and in Rebekah-Degree 



ILLINOIS ODD-FELLOWS' CODE. 197 

Lodges, and used as a further proof test of membership in the 
degree, as well as to enable all members having the degree to 
visit Subordinate Lodges when open for the purpose of 
conferring the degree. This annual password shall also be used 
in conjunction with a card issued by a Rebekah-Degree Lodge, 
when visiting a Rebekah-Degree Lodge in jurisdictions other 
than the one to which the visitor belongs. Sov. 8166. 

894. The Grand Masters of jurisdictions in which 
Rebekah-Degree Lodges exist are required to make a semi- 
annual password for the Degree of Rebekah, which shall be a 
test of good standing in a Rebekah-Degree Lodge, and shall be 
used at the outer door of such Lodges to obtain admission to the 
ante-room; but the use of this password shall not prevent Grand 
Officers from visiting Rebekah-Degree Lodges in their official 
capacity. This semi-annual word shall be used only in the 
jurisdiction to which it properly belongs, and shall be communi- 
cated privately to all persons entitled to receive it. The 
instruction in the ritual, when given in Rebekah-Degree Lodges, 
must be changed so as to give this semi-annual password in the 
place and stead of the annual password, as means of obtaining 
admission. Sov. 8166, 7852. 

895. Brothers or sisters who are not members of a Degree 
Lodge D. of R. are not entitled to the S.A.P.W. of that 
degree ; nor can they visit Rebekah-Degree Lodges in their own 
jurisdiction. The Noble Grand of a Subordinate Lodge, unless 
a member of a Rebekah-Degree Lodge, is not entitled to this 
password. * Sov. 7909. 

896. Degree Lodges D. of R. are authorized to grant, by a 
ballot vote of a majority of the members present at a regular 
meeting, withdrawal cards to members who may apply in person 
or by letter for such cards; and such Lodges D. of R. are 
authorized to admit to membership, by deposit of card, by such 
vote as is required for ordinary admission, the holders of regular 
cards granted as above provided. Sov. 6233-4. 

897. The proper manner of voting in a Degree Lodge 
D. of R. is by "yes" and " no." Sov. 4716. 

898. There shall be no forfeiture of membership in Degree 
Lodges of the Daughters of Rebekah, except by such rules and 
usages as apply to brothers in Subordinate Lodges. Sov. 5915. 



198 ILLINOIS ODD-FELLOWS' CODE. 

899. If a lady who is a member of a Degree Lodge D. 
of R. has, upon her own complaint or suit, obtained a divorce 
from her husband, she is entitled to the A.P.W. of the degree, 
which the Noble Grand of the Degree Lodge shall give her. But 
if the decree of divorce was obtained upon the suit of the hus- 
band against her, the A.P.W. shall be withheld until the Lodge 
shall be satisfied that she has not been guilty of any immoral con- 
duct. Her husband's standing shall not affect hers. Sov. 7173. 

900. A Rebekah-Degree Lodge shall not give a party or 
hold a festival in its Lodge room on a regular meeting night. 

901. Rebekah-Degree Lodges are required to report to 
the Grand Secretary in January of each year. Necessary blanks 
for all reports which the Rebekah-Degree Lodges are required 
to make to the Grand Secretary are to be furnished by him. 

902. Whenever any Rebekah-Degree Lodge shall, for 
thirty days after the time by law required for the making of its 
annual report, neglect to make and forward such report to the 
proper officer, it shall be the duty of the Grand Master of the 
proper jurisdiction to declare the charter of such Lodge forfeited, 
and to reclaim the same. Sov. 7060. 

903. A number of Subordinate Lodges cannot legally 
establish a Union Degree-of-Rebekah Lodge, and hold regular 
meetings thereof for conferring and working that degree. 
Societies of the Degree of Rebekah, composed of ladies in 
possession of that degree, the meetings of which are opened in 
that degree, the regalia worn, and the work of that degree used, 
are irregular, unauthorized, and in contravention to the legisla- 
tion of the Sovereign Grand Lodge. But there is nothing in the 
laws of the S.G.L. to prevent the members of the Rebekah 
Degree from organizing for the purpose of promoting the cause 
of benevolence. Sov. ZIZ^^ 3739? 2561. 

The permissions and prohibitions of this and the next section are still 
vaHd : but they refer to voluntary and independent associations, and not 
to regularly organized and chartered Degree Lodges of the Degree of 
Rebekah. 

904. Rebekah-Degree brothers and sisters of a Lodge 
may organize a society for social or benevolent purposes, adopt 
such by-laws as may suit them, and elect to such offices as 
they may create either brothers or sisters, as they choose; 
but they may not meet as a Lodge, or confer the Degree of 



ILLINOIS ODD-FELLOWS' CODE. 199 

Rebekah, or use the signs or passwords of the degree, or use the 
Lodge installation books to install their officers. 

905. The Grand Lodge adopted in 1879 the following 

CONSTITUTION 

FOR 

Degree Lodges of the Daughters of Rebekah. 

preamble. 
For the purpose of preserving uniformity in the work within 
this state, the R.W. Grand Lodge of the State of Illinois ordains 
the following Constitution for Degree Lodges of the Daughters 
of Rebekah. 

ARTICLE I. — NAME AND POWERS. 

This Lodge shall be constituted by not less than ten members, 
five of each sex, including one qualified to preside at its meet- 
ings, and shall be known as 

Degree Lodge, No. , 

Daughters of Rebekah, of the I.O.O.F., of the State of Illinois; 
and shall possess the full powers and privileges of a Degree 
Lodge of the D. of R., holding a legal, unreclaimed and valid 
charter, duly granted by the Grand Lodge of the State of 
Illinois. 

ARTICLE II. — MEMBERSHIP. 

906. Section i. All members of the Third Degree, wives 
of members of the Third Degree, unmarried daughters of Odd- 
Fellows of the Third Degree who are above the age of eighteen 
years (when proposed by either parent or guardian), unmarried 
sisters, who are above the age of eighteen years, of Odd-Fellows 
of the Third Degree (when proposed by their brothers), and 
widows of Odd-Fellows who were in good standing at their 
decease, shall be eligible to membership in this Lodge. [Sec- 
tion 877 above shows that still others, not here described, may 
be admitted.] 

Sec. 2. A proposition for membership, by initiation, or other- 
wise, must be made in writing, by a member, and must be 
entered, in substance, on the record, and referred to two brothers 
and one sister for investigation — if the applicant be a Third- 
Degree member; or to two sisters and one brother if the 
applicant be a wife, daughter or sister of a Third-Degree mem- 



200 ILLINOIS ODD-FELLOWS' CODE. 

ber or a widow of an Odd-Fellow ; who shall report in writing 
at the next regular meeting, when the applicant shall be balloted 
for with ball ballots; and if two-thirds of the ballots cast be 
white, the applicant shall be elected, and so declared; other- 
wise, the applicant shall be declared rejected. 

Sec. 3. By unanimous consent of the Lodge, a proposition 
may be received, reported upon, and the applicant balloted for 
and admitted to membership, on one and the same evening. 

907. wSec. 4. All propositions for membership must be 
accompanied by certificates as follows, viz : If the applicant be a 
Third-Degree member, by a certificate from the Lodge to which 
he belongs; if the applicant be a wife, daughter or sister of a 
Third-Degree member, by a certificate from the Lodge to which 
the husband, parent, guardian or brother (as the case may be) 
belongs ; if the applicant be a widow of an Odd-Fellow, by a 
certificate from the Lodge to which her husband did belong. 

Sec. 5. This Lodge may, at its option, confer the Degree of 
Rebekah upon all qualified persons who may make application 
for the same, and who shall present such certificates from a Sub- 
ordinate Lodge as are required by Sec. 4 of this article. [See 
Sec. 885.] 

Sec. 6. A member of this Lodge, having been dropped for 
N.P.D., may be reinstated upon payment of one year's dues, by 
a majority vote, upon ballot had at a regular meeting. [But a 
lady who is suspended for non-payment, and who, during sus- 
pension, marries a person who is not an Odd-Fellow, cannot be 
reinstated. — Sov. 8806.] 

Sec. 7. A candidate rejected shall not again be proposed for 
membership in any Degree Lodge D. of R. for a period of six 
months after such rejection. 

ARTICLE III. — officers. 

908. Section i. The elective officers of this Lodge shall 
consist of a Noble Grand, Vice Grand, Secretary, and Treasurer; 
the Lodge may, however, if deemed necessary, elect a Financial 
Secretary. 

Sec. 2. The appointed officers shall consist of a Warden, 
Conductor, Outside Guardian, Inside Guardian, Right and Left 
Supporters of the Noble Grand, Right and Left Supporters of 
the Vice Grand, and a Chaplain. 

Sec. 3. It shall be the duty of the Noble Grand to preside in 



ILLINOIS ODD-FELLOWS' CODE. 201 

the Lodge, and enforce a due observance of the constitution 
and laws, and a proper respect for the authority of the Grand 
Lodge of the State of Illinois ; see that the officers of the 
Lodge and members of the committees perform their respective 
duties ; to appoint all officers and committees not otherwise 
provided for; to give the casting vote, only, on all matters or 
questions before the Lodge, except in the election of officers, 
when he (or she) shall be entitled to vote. He (or she) shall 
inspect and announce the result of all ballotings or other votes 
by the Lodge ; have charge of the charter, which he (or she) 
must always have in the Lodge while in session ; draw upon the 
Treasurer for all sums that have been voted by the Lodge ; con- 
vene special meetings, and perform such other duties as appertain 
to the office. 

The Noble Grand of a Degree Lodge D. of R. cannot legally continue 
in that chair if he takes a withdrawal card from his Lodge, even though it 
be only to form a new Lodge. 

gog. Sec. 4. The Vice Grand shall assist the Noble Grand 
in presiding in the Lodge, and shall appoint his (or her) sup- 
porters, and perform all other duties appertaining to the office. 

Sec. 5. The Secretary shall keep accurate minutes of the 
proceedings of the Lodge, write all communications, fill up all 
certificates granted by the Lodge, issue all summonses or notices 
required, attest to all moneys ordered paid at regular meetings, 
and none other. The Secretary shall, on the last meeting in 
June and the last meeting in December, report to each Lodge 
the names of the brothers of such Lodge, and the names of the 
sisters who are wives, daughters, sifters or widows of members 
of such Lodge, upon whom the degree has been conferred, and 
perform such other duties appertaining to the office as may be 
required of him (or her) by the Lodge ; perform the duties 
hereinafter prescribed for Financial Secretary, if none be elected, 
and be exempt from all dues and assessments. 

The law governing Subordinate Lodges which requires the seal to be 
attached to all official documents must be rigidly enforced upon Degree 
Lodges D. of R. 

gio. Sec. 6. The Financial Secretary (if one be elected) 
shall keep just and true accounts between the Lodge and its 
members; receive all moneys paid into the Lodge, and pay the 
same over to the Treasurer, taking his (or her) receipt therefor. 
He (or she) shall, in the months of June and December, notify 
all members who at the close of said months will become in 



202 ILLINOIS ODD-FELLOWS' CODE. 

arrears for six months' dues of the amount due the Lodge ; and 
at the close of the term make a report to the Lodge of all 
moneys received and paid over to the Treasurer during the 
term, and be exempt from all dues and assessments. 

Sec. 7. The Treasurer, prior to being installed, shall give a 
lawful bond, in accordance with the laws of the Grand Lodge, 
to be approved by the Lodge, with such penalties and conditions 
as from time to time may be prescribed by the Lodge. The 
Treasurer shall keep the funds of the Lodge ; pay all orders 
drawn by the Noble Grand and attested by the Secretary ; keep 
a full and correct account of all moneys received and expended ; 
give the Lodge a statement of its funds when requested ; furnish 
the Lodge at the close of the term with a full report of the 
receipts and disbursements of the term, with vouchers ; and de- 
liver up, when legally called upon, all moneys, bonds, papers, 
books, etc., belonging to the Lodge to his (or her) successor in 
office, or to whom the Lodge may especially appoint. 

Sec. 8. All other officers shall perform such duties as are pre- 
scribed for them by the charges of their respective offices and 
the requirements of the laws and regulations of this Lodge. 

Sec. 9. In the absence of the Noble Grand, the Vice Grand 
shall perform all the duties devolving upon the Noble Grand of 
the Lodge. 

Sec. 10. The elective officers of this Lodge shall make such 
reports to the Grand Lodge as may from time to time be re- 
quired by law. 

ARTICLE IV. — ELECTIONS, ETC. 

911. Section i. Qtialiji cation for Office. — (i) Each officer 
shall be an actual contributing member in good standing in 
this Lodge. (2) No member shall be eligible to the office of 
Noble Grand, unless previous service is shown in the office of 
Vice Grand in a Rebekah-Degree or Subordinate Lodge. 

Sec. 2. Nominations for elective officers may be made on 
the regular meeting immediately preceding that of the election, 
and on the evening of the election previous to the election being 
gone into for each office respectively. 

Sec. 3. The election of officers shall take place at the last 
regular meeting of the term, and the installation at the next 
regular meeting after that of the election. The election shall be 
by ballot, except when there is but one candidate for an office, 
when the election may be made by acclamation. 



ILLINOIS ODD-FELLOWS' CODE, 203 

Sec. 4. The term of office in this Lodge shall be one year, 
commencing on the first day [this should be "first regular meet- 
ing," Sec. 1028] of January. 

Sec. 5. Any officer being absent three successive regular 
meetings, his (or her) chair may be declared vacant by vote of the 
Lodge ; and all vacancies shall be filled in the manner of the 
fonner selection, to serve the residue of the term. 

ARTICLE V. — DUES AND BENEFITS. 

912. Section i. No fee shall be charged for the con- 
ferring of the Degree of Rebekah. 

Sec. 2. The regular dues and benefits shall be regulated by 
the by-laws. 

It is optional with the Lodge how to dispose of its funds for the relief of 
the sick or distressed. The Lodge may make by-laws to grant sick benefits 
to its members. 

ARTICLE VI. — PENALTIES. 

913. The Lodge may provide by its by-laws when those in 
arrears for dues shall be dropped from membership : Provided, 
that all members who fail to pay their dues for a period of 
one year shall be dropped, \Sec. 898.) 

ARTICLE VII. — MISCELLANEOUS. 

914. Section i. Seven members, irrespective of sex, shall 
constitute a quorum for the transaction of business. (This is 
S.G.L. law, Sov. 7852.) 

Sec. 2. This Lodge may adopt such by-laws, not inconsistent 
with this constitution, or with the rules, usages and general 
regulations of the Order, as they may deem proper, subject to 
the approval of the Grand Lodge. 

Sec. 3. The regular and special meetings of this Lodge shall 
be at such times as the by-laws may prescribe. 

Sec. 4. Rules of Order to facilitate the business of the Lodge 
may also be adopted. 

Sec. 5. This Lodge shall, at its last meeting in June or at the 
first meeting thereafter, by election duly had, recommend a Past 
Grand, who shall be a member of this Lodge, to be appointed by 
the Grand Master as his Deputy for this Lodge. [Sec. 892.) 

915. Sec. 6. The certificates referred to in Sec. 4 of Art. 
II of this Constitution shall be in the following form : 



204 ILLINOIS ODD-FELLOWS' CODE, 

OF Lodge, No. 

At , Illinois, , i8 — . 



Hall of Lodge, No. , LO.O.F.) 



To all whom it may concern : 

This certifies that [Bro. is a member of this Lodge in good 

standing and of the Third Degree] [or, Mrs. is the wife of 

Bro. ■ who is a member of this Lodge in good standing and of the 

Third Degree] [or, Miss '■ — is the daughter above eighteen years 

of age of Bro. , who is (or, was at the time of his decease) a 

member of this Lodge in good standing and of the Third Degree] [or, Miss 

is the sister above eighteen years of age of Bro. , who 

is a member of this Lodge in good standing and of the Third Degree] 

[or, Mrs. is the widow of Bro. , who was a member of 

this Lodge in good standing at the time of his decease]. 

[seal] -, Secretary. 

ARTICLE VIII. — AMP:NDMENTS. 

916. These Articles, or any part thereof, shall not be 
altered, amended, suspended, or annulled, except on motion 
made in the Grand Lodge, at a regular session. 

*:}:* Concerning passwords of this degree, see Sees. 824, 843, 894 ; con- 
cerning its regaha, see Sees. 934-5 ; concerning the R.D. as a qualification 
for office, see Sec. 247 ; concerning a form of charter for R.D. Lodges, see 
Sec. 181 ; concerning cards and certificates of membership, see Sees. 518, 
1045 ; concerning funerals, see Sees. 1080, 1081. 



CHAPTER XXV. 
Regalia, Jewels, Emblems and Flag. 

917. The Regalia of the Order shall be as follows, to-wit : 
Collars of Subordinate Lodges shall be white, trimmed with 
the emblematic color of the degree intended to be represented, 
namely : First Degree, pink ; Second Degree, blue ; Third De- 
gree, scarlet ; Initiatory Degree, a plain white collar. Rosettes 
of the appropriate color may be worn upon the collar. 

The Noble Grand, Secretary and Treasurer shall each wear a 
scarlet collar trimmed with white or silver ; the Vice Grand a 
blue collar trimmed in like manner. Supporters of the Noble 
Grand and Vice Grand shall wear sashes of the color [of the 
regalia] of those officers respectively. Warden and Conductor, 
black sashes ; Scene Supporters, white sashes ; Chaplain, white 
sash ; Outside Guardian, scarlet sash ; Inside Guardian, scarlet 
sash. 



ILLINOIS ODD-FELLOWS' CODE. 205 

The position of each officer shall be indicated by the jewel 
of the office. 

The above shall apply to all Lodges that may be hereafter 
instituted, and to all Lodges that shall hereafter procure new 
regalia. Sov. By-Lazu, Art. xxii ; Sov. 8763. 

918. Past Grands wear scarlet collars (or sashes) trimmed 
with white. The collars and sashes of Past Grands may be 
trimmed with silver lace or fringe. Those who have taken the 
Royal Purple Degree may have trimmings of yellow metal. 
The regalia of Grand Officers and Past Grand Officers [and of 
members] of Grand Lodges is the same as that prescribed for 
Past Grands. Sov. By-Law, Art. xxii. 

919. The regalia for a Past Grand who is also a Past 
Chief Patriarch may, in lieu of any other regalia to which he 
may be entitled, be a scarlet collar trimmed with white, the col- 
lar not to be more than five and a half inches wide, with a roll 
of purple two inches \a ide trimmed with yellow, the collar to be 
united in front with three links. The above-described regalia 
may be worn by a brother who has passed the chairs in a Lodge 
and in an Encampment, in any Grand or Subordinate Lodge, or 
any Grand or Subordinate Encampment. The collar may be of 
scarlet velvet with white metal trimmings, and the roll of purple 
velvet with yellow metal trimmings. 

Past High Priests, who are Past Grands and members of a 
Grand Encampment, may wear the combined regalia now 
authorized to be worn by Past Chief Patriarchs. 

Sov. By-Law, Art. xxii; Sov. 5518, 6197. 

920. The jewel for a P.G. is a five-pointed star; for a N.G., 
crossed gavels; for a V.G., hour-glass; for a Secretary, crossed 
pens ; for a Treasurer, crossed keys ; for a Warden, crossed 
axes; for a Conductor, crossed wands ; for a Guardian, crossed 
swords : all to be made of white metal. 

A Past Grand who has the R.P. Degree may wear a jewel of 
yellow metal. 
U. S. Digest of 1847,//. 28, 29, amended in 1870 ; Sov. 6351. 

921. The jewels for other appointed officers are as follows : 
A wand, with branching arms connected by three links, and 
encompassing an emblem; for Supporters of N.G., the emblem 
is a gavel; for Supporters of V.G., an hour-glass; for Scene 



206 ILLINOIS ODD-FELLOWS' CODE. 

*Supporters, a lighted torch ; and for Chaplain, a Bible. These 
are of white metal three and one-half inches in length. 

The adoption of these jewels, as well as the adoption of the diagram of 
the Lodge room, does not appear in the Journal of the S.G.L. The figure 
of the jewels may be found in the pamphlet Journal of 1872, just before the 
Index, and in the supplementary sheets of White's Digest of 1870, p. 349. 
The reference there given and repeated in the S.G.L. Digest of 1882 will not 
enable any one to find anything on the subject. 

922. The jewel for a Past Grand Master is the sun with the 
hand and heart ; for a Grand Master, the sun with the scales of 
justice impressed or engraved thereon ; for a Deputy Grand 
Master, a half-moon ; for a Grand Warden, crossed gavels ; 
for a Grand Secretary, crossed pens; for a Grand Treasurer, 
crossed keys ; for a Grand Conductor, Roman sword ; for a 
Grand Guardian, crossed swords ; for a Grand Marshal, a baton : 
all of the said jewels to be of white metal. 

U. S. Digest of 1847,/. 29. 

923. The regalia for a Grand Representative consists of a 
collar of purple velvet, not more than four inches in width, 
with a roll of scarlet velvet; the trimmings to be of yellow 
metal, and the collar to be united in front with three links, to 
which may be suspended such medal or medals as the member 
may be entitled to wear. Past Grand Representatives and the 
Officers and Past Officers of the United States wear the same 
regalia as Grand Representatives. The jewel of a Grand Rep- 
resentative or Past Grand Representative is a medal, three inches 
in diameter, of yellow metal, having on one side the coat of 
arms of his state, surrounded by an ornamental edging of silver. 

Sov. By-Law, Art. xxii. 

924. The Grand Lodge of Illinois provides regalia at its 
sessions for its officers only : every unofficial member must 
furnish regalia for himself. 

925. The following uniform parade dress may be worn 
hy Subordinate Lodges when in public procession : 

Clause I. The style of hat or cap and dress shall be left to 
the jurisdiction of the individual Subordinate Lodges, provided 
that in each case strict uniformity shall be enjoined and observed. 

Clause 2. Plain white gloves only shall be worn. 

Claiise 3. A jewel collar two and one-half inches wide (no 
more nor less) at the widest part, uniting in a point in front, in 
accordance with pattern, made of light blue silk, Italian cloth or 



ILLINOIS ODD-FELLOWS' CODE. 207 

Other material (excepting velvet, which shall not be used), edged 
with silver lace or braid, one-fourth of an inch wide, and with- 
out embroidery or other ornamentation of any kind whatever. 

Clause 4. A medal, to be suspended from the collar, of white 
metal, one and three-fourths inches in diameter, having on the 
obverse side, in raised work, the Allseeing Eye, encircled by 
rays of light; and on the reverse, also in raised work, the three 
links of the Order, surrounded by the legend : "In God we 
Trust " : " Friendship, Love and Truth." 

dfiBcers and past ohicers may wear, instead thereof, or in addi- 
tion thereto, such jewel or jewels of the Order as they may be 
entitled to wear elsewhere, in conformity with the existing 
regulations. Sov. 7790, 8089. 

926. When a brother visits a Grand or Subordinate Lodge 
not his ow^n, he may at his option, but not as a duty, wear the 
Encampment regalia and jewel of the highest degree he has 
taken; but he cannot wear such regalia and jewel in his own 
Lodge, Grand or Subordinate. Sov. 8210. 

927. Members of a Grand Lodge who have received the 
Royal Purple Degree, may wear on their regalia in Grand Lodge 
the colors of the Encampment, black, gold and purple. 

928. All Grand and Subordinate Lodges and Encamp- 
ments are required to furnish their officers with the jewels 
appertaining to their stations; and the jewels must be worn by 
the officers during the transaction of business; and while these 
bodies are in session their members are required to be clothed 
in suitable regalia, which is the same for all meetings of a Lodge. 
Suitable regalia means that which pertains to the office which a 
member fills ; or, if he is not filling an official station, then the 
regalia showing his highest degree or past-official rank in that 
branch of the Order. A jewel wrought in the regalia does not 
fulfill the requirement of the law. Sov. 1290, 4431, 5804. 

929. A member filling an office, either temporarily or 
permanently, must wear the regalia of that office. But if a Past 
Grand acting as Warden should not have assumed the regalia of 
that office, yet is recognized as Warden by the Noble Grand and 
receives orders accordingly, the members of the Lodge should 
not refuse to give him the password, but they may object to his 
disorder in some other way. But an officer need not wear both 
his regular official regalia and also a robe or other dress pre- 



208 ILLINOIS ODD-FELLOWS' CODE. 

scribed for an initiation or other ceremony : the regalia may be 
dispensed with . Sov. 2175, 7759. 

930. A brother filling a station temporarily and wearing 
its regalia, may not wear any other : he must not wear two 
regalias at once. A Lodge may not require members to furnish 
themselves with regalia ; it is specially required to furnish officers' 
regalia. 

931. No brother is entitled to enter or leave the Lodge 
room unless clothed in regalia. If an officer, and his regalia be 
in his chair in the Lodge room, he must enter in scarlet regalia, 
and there exchange it for his official regalia. Ritual: Sov. 2699. 

932. A Lodge cannot require a Junior Past Grand upon 
ordinary occasions to wxar other regalia than that usually w^orn 
by Past Grands, nor can it deprive him of any of his rights or 
privileges in the Lodge room for refusing to do so. 

933. Subordinate Lodges and Encampments are forbidden 
to appear in public in procession or in public display with re- 
galia, except upon occasions distinctly authorized by the Grand 
Lodge, or by dispensation from proper authority. But the 
funeral of a brother is an occasion not requiring special permis- 
sion. Sov. 392-3. 

934. The regalia to be worn by the Daughters of Rebekah 
is specifically described in the provisions of the Rebekah Degree, 
as found on the pages of the secret Journal and printed in the 
Degree-book, and the addition of gold or silver trimming there- 
to is irregular, and contrary to the laws of the Order. The 
colors of the degree are pink and green intertwined or com- 
bined in a collar, bow, rosette or ornament. 

Sov. 2623, and Rebekah- Degree Ritual. 

935. In a Rebekah-Degree Lodge the brethren wear the 
regalia to which they are entitled in a Subordinate Lodge. 
Ladies wear collars of the Degree of Rebekah, and in addition, 
if elected or appointed to offices, the jewels of their respective 
offices. In addition to the collar of the Degree of Rebekah, a 
lady Past Noble Grand shall be entitled to wear, as indicative of 
rank, a jewel of white metal, to be a five-pointed star. All 
jewels used in this degree to be of size in proportion to size of 
collar of the Degree of Rebekah. Sov. 4489, 4647, 7857. 



ILLINOIS ODD-FELLOWS' CODE, 209 

936. The funeral regalia consists of a black crape rosette, 
having a center of the color of the highest degree to which the 
wearer may have attained, to be worn on the left breast; above 
it a sprig of evergreen, and below it (if the wearer be an elective 
officer) the jewel or jewels which as such he may be entitled to 
wear. Instead of or in connection with the above funeral 
regalia, there may be worn, as the Grand Lodges and Grand 
Encampments determine, the regalia prescribed as Odd-Fellows' 
regalia. Sov. 961, 1239, 1240. 

937. In Illinois, each Lodge is allowed, in attending the 
funeral of a deceased brother, to wear such regalia known to the 
Order as it may deem just and proper. 

938. At the funeral of a Lodge member who has not 
attained the Patriarchal Degree, each member is entitled to wear 
the regalia of the highest rank he has attained in the Lodge. 
The regular regalia, as prescribed for the Encampment branch, 
other than the usual rosette, has not been authorized to be used 
on such occasions. Sov. 7477-8. 

939. The ordinary mourning badge to be worn by 
brothers, in memory of a deceased brother, is a strip of black 
crape, passed through one button-hole of the left lapel of the 
coat and tied with a narrow ribbon of the highest degree to 
which the wearer has attained. Sov. 961. 

940. No regalia is legitimate except that which is pre- 
scribed by law : hence, the use of crooks, swords, belts, 
gauntlets, and of all military paraphernalia not so prescribed, is 
inadmissible, and a flagrant violation of law. 

Sov. 4716, 5197, 5246. 

941. Clause I. No member of the Order may, either 
directly or indirectly, use or sanction the use of any of the 
emblems, the name, or any of the titles, or the mottoes, or the 
initials thereof, of the Order, in the prosecution of any private 
business or enterprise. 

Clause 2. No member or officer of any Lodge or Encamp- 
ment of this Order may, either directly or indirectly, use or 
permit the use of his name, as such member or officer, in any 
private business or enterprise. 

Clause 3. A member of the Order may not use any of its 
emblems, its name, or any of its titles, its mottoes, or the initials 
15 



210 ILLINOIS ODD-FELLOWS' CODE. 

thereof, in any advertisement or public display not authorized 
by some law of the Order. 

Clause 4. Any member of the Order or officer of a Lodge or 
Encampment who shall be guilty of any of the offenses defined 
and set forth in the three preceding clauses shall be considered 
guilty of a fraud upon the Order, and shall be suspended or 
expelled from membership, at the option of his Lodge or En- 
campment. 

Clause 5. The foregoing shall not be construed to apply to 
any periodical or newspaper published in the interests of the 
Order, in good faith, by a member or members of the Order in 
good standing : tcnless such piiblication shall, under cover of 
the interests of the Order, give publicity to any of the signs, 
emblems, mottoes, or other secrets of the Order, in advertise- 
ment or otherwise, for the benefit of individuals or companies, 
or for the advancement of their own private interests. But if 
any such periodical or newspaper shall offend against the provi- 
sions of this regulation, it shall be the duty of the Grand Sire 
to warn said periodical or newspaper to discontinue such conduct; 
and in the event of the continuance of such publications or 
advertisements, and persistent disobedience to said warning, it 
shall be the duty of the Grand Sire to prefer charges against the 
offending party or parties, before his or their Subordinate Lodge ; 
and it shall be the duty of such Lodge to arraign and try the 
party or parties so charged, and upon conviction of the offense, 
to suspend or expel the offender. Sov. 5143, 5199. 

942. The flag of the I.O.O.F. for Grand or Subordinate 
bodies shall be as follows : The flag to be manufactured of white 
material — either bunting, satin or cotton cloth, as may be 
selected by those desiring one. The proportions to be Ii-I9ths 
of the length for the width. The emblems to consist of the 
three links, to be placed in the center of the flag, the letters 
I.O.O.F. and the name of the state, district or territory using it. 
The emblems and letters are to be painted or wrought in scarlet 
color, and the flag to be trimmed with material of the same 
color. Wherever the flag is to be used by the Encampments, 
there shall be added two crooks, painted or wrought in purple 
color, Sov. 4395, 4418, 5168, 5206. 



CHAPTER XXVL 

Constitution, By-Laws and Rules of Order of Subordinate 
Lodges. 

943. The Constitution of Subordinates is uniform in 
Illinois, and prescribed by the Grand Lodge. (See Sec. 90.) 
Lodges may not alter their constitution. An amendment to it 
may be adopted at any session of the Grand Lodge, on the next 
day after it was proposed, and amendments go into effect 
immediately upon their adoption ; and they do not annul the 
by-laws of subordinates previously made, except so far as the 
by-laws conflict therewith. 

944. ^A/■hen doubts arise of the true meaning of any of 
these articles [of the Subordinate Constitution] it shall be de- 
termined by the Noble Grand, his determination being subject 
to an appeal to the Lodge, and its determination being subject 
to an appeal to the Grand Lodge, whose decision shall be final 
in all cases. Stib. Const., Art. xii, Sec. I. 

Questions of construction are determined first by the presid- 
ing officer of the Lodge, and, on appeal from him, by the Lodge 
itself. An appeal lies from the action of the Lodge. Sov. 8714. 

945. This Lodge shall stand fully invested with power to 
adopt such by-laws and rules of order, from time to time, as it 
may deem expedient, provided they do not in any wise contra- 
vene any of these articles, the laws and constitution of the 
Grand Lodge of Illinois, or of the Sovereign Grand Lodge of 
the Independent Order of Odd-Fellows, or the principles of the 
Order; a copy of which shall be sent to the Grand Lodge 
for its approval at its next regular session. The by-laws shall 
not be suspended, set aside, or altered, except by regular pro- 
cess of amendment, a written proposition for which shall have 
been before the Lodge at- least one week. 

Stib. Const., Art. xii. Sec. 3. 

946. If no by-laws are in force, the Lodge has the right 
to adopt any by-laws it may deem proper, at any time and with- 
out any notice. 



212 ILLINOIS ODD-FELLOWS' CODE. 

947. The supervision and approval of the by-laws of 
Lodges belong to the State Grand Lodges, and is not interfered 
with by the S.G.L. A Grand Lodge has no right to interfere 
with by-laws of its subordinates when submitted to it for 
approval, unless they conflict with the constitution or the gen- 
eral principles of the Order, and is, therefore, in no wise 
responsible for the sufficiency of the language used in said by- 
laws to carry out the objects aimed at, whether said by-laws be 
construed by the courts of the country or by the Grand Lodge 
itself, afterward, upon appeal. When a Grand Body has dele- 
gated to its subordinates full control over their financial regula- 
tions, "subject to the approval of the Committee on Laws," if a 
subordinate in that jurisdiction passes a by-law in accordance 
with the constitution and by-laws of the Grand Lodge, the 
Committee on Laws must approve the same. The expediency 
or inexpediency of a by-law of said subordinate on the question 
of finance cannot be inquired into by them. 

Sov. 4877, 5139, 8082, 8641. 

948. No subordinate can work constitutionally until its 
constitution and by-laws have been approved by the Grand 
Body under which it works. In Lodges under the S.G.L. 
directly, the constitution and by-laws are not binding until 
approved ; but whether they shall have force and effect in a state 
jurisdiction before approval depends upon the laws of that juris- 
diction. Sov. 8409, 6618, 821 1, 7173. 

949. By-laws, and amendments thereto, must be sub- 
mitted to the Grand Lodge at its next regular session for 
approval ; if not so done, such by-laws are not necessarily void, 
but are binding upon the members of it until disapproved by 
the Grand Lodge [or regularly repealed by the Lodge], unless 
contrary to the general laws. By-laws for examination and 
approval must be sent to the Grand Secretary at least one w^eek 
before the annual session of the Grand Lodge. 

950. An assessment made under authority of a by-law for 
any legal purpose is to be enforced and collected, though the 
by-law was not sent to the Grand Lodge for approval as required 
by Sec. 949, and even though the by-law was repealed by the 
Lodge itself before the session of the Grand Lodge to which it 
should have been sent if not repealed. 

951. A Grand Master has not the power of approving the 



ILLINOIS ODD-FELLOWS' CODE. 213 

by-laws of a Lodge : they must be acted upon by the Grand 
Lodge. Neither a Deputy nor the Grand Master himself can set 
aside, by dispensation or otherwise, the properly-made, legal and 
approved by-laws of a Lodge. But an illegal provision in a 
by-law is not made legal and valid by an inadvertent approval 
on the part of the Grand Lodge : it muht be set aside. 

952. The by-laws of a Lodge must not contain superflui- 
ties, nor reenact the laws of a superior authority. They should 
deal with those matters only which are left to the discretion of 
the Lodge. 

The same doctrine is set forth in Sov. 3269. 

953. A Lodge may not suspend its by-laws for special 
occasions, even by a unanimous vote : they must be obeyed or 
amended regularly. Sov. 2816, 4149. 

954. When an amendment to the by-laws of a Lodge 
comes up for action, any amendment to the amendment which 
is germane to the subject may be offered and then and there 
acted upon, the whole subject being open to the Lodge. 

This is local law. It is contrary to the practice of the S.G.L. and to its 
opinion ; but that body refers the matter to local law. {Sov. 7024, 7419.) 

The following precedent is to be observed : The by-laws of a Lodge 
provided that the by-laws may be amended only after written notice " shall 
have been submitted and read on at least two regidar meetings previous to 
the time of action on the proposition/' and that "^ all such propositions shall 
be read in open Lodge, and subject to discussion at each regular meeting 
after offered until finally disposed of." An amendment proposed in this 
Lodge did not appear to have been read in open Lodge and subject to dis- 
cussion at the meeting next after proposition : it was held that the proposi- 
tion had become defunct, and could not come up for action except after 
being proposed anew. 

955- When a Lodge has adopted by-laws, the adoption 
may be reconsidered at the [same or] next subsequent meeting, 
like any other matter subject to reconsideration, in spite of any 
limitations as to mode of amendment contained in the by-laws 
themselves. Sov. 6965. 

956. The adoption of a new^ code of by-laws repeals the 
code previously in force. 

957. The tacit consent of the members cannot be regarded 
as conferring power to enforce any law not found in the by-laws 
or in any enactment made subsequent to their adoption. 

Sov. 2790. 



214 ILLINOIS ODD-FELLOWS' CODE. 

958. The following special prohibitions as to the subject 
of by-laws have been enacted by the Grand Lodge of Illinois : 

By-laws are not allowed — 

(i) To prescribe qualifications for membership, or prohibit 
applications for membership on account of age, whether by 
initiation or on deposit of card. 

(2) To determine the time of an initiation. 

(3) To legislate on the scrutiny of ballots. 

(4) To legislate respecting a quorum, or the dissolution of 
the Lodge. 

(5) To prescribe that its Trustees shall be householders. 

(6) To legislate respecting degrees, except the amount of 
fees, and to make the election thereto void by non-usance in 
due time. 

(7) To prescribe limits to the watching service. 

(8) To legislate respecting cards; except that they may pre- 
scribe the fee for a card. 

(9) To legislate on indebtedness between brothers. (^Sec. 628.) 

(10) To declare the traffic in liquors, or other occupations by 
name, an offense : general principles, and not special instances, 
should be enacted. (ySec. 629.) 

(11) To legislate concerning trials. [Sec. 632.) 

(12) To create other penalties than those prescribed in gen- 
eral laws. [Sees. 729, 736.) 

(13) To define good standing, as it is fixed by general laws. 

(14) To prescribe what Past Grand shall fill the Noble 
Grand's chair. [Sec. 289.) 

(15) To fix the amount of the Treasurer's bond. [Sec. 303.) 

959. When the by-laws of a Lodge provide the same or 
a less price for a card than that which is charged for the same by 
the Grand Lodge, the price may be altered by resolution, with- 
out reference of the same to the Grand Lodge; and the evening 
of meeting may be changed without sending the amendment up 
for approval. (See Sec. 971.) 

960. When a constitution directs a provision to be made 
by the by-laws, the latter must be the guide in carrying out such 
provision. Sov. 7363, 8086-7. 

961. It is good policy for a Lodge to prepare and adopt 
some code of the simplest and most frequently useful rules of 
order, and to append it to the by-laws. But rules of order are 



ILLINOIS ODD-FELLOWS' CODE. 



215 



conventional only, to aid in the dispatch of business ; and while 
by-laws can be amended only on previous notice, any particular 
rule or all of them may be set aside temporarily or for the whole 
evening by vote of the Lodge. Rules of order ought not to be 
suspended, however, by less than a two-thirds vote. 

962. All questions of order are to be decided by the pre- 
siding officer, subject to an appeal to the Lodge. The decision 
of the Lodge, in such cases, should be final. 

963. Robert's Rules of Order is adopted as the standard 
work on parliamentary practice for the government of the Grand 
Lodge of Illinois and its subordinates. 

964. Penalties should be provided and fixed in the by-laws, 
and do not belong in rules of order. 

965. It is very inexpedient, if not improper, that a Lodge 
should, by a standing resoludon, confer upon a member of a 
Lodge of another jurisdiction freedom of debate on all ques- 
tions that may come before it. ^ Sov. 4382. 



CHAPTER XXVIL 

Meetings, Quorum, Business, Records, Voting and 
Committees. 

966. This Lodge shall be constituted by at least five 
members, including one qualified to preside at its meetings, and 
shall be hailed and entitled 

LODGE, NO. — , I.O.O.F., OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS. 

This Lodge shall hold regular weekly meetings, except when 
specially otherwise allowed by the Grand Lodge of Illinois. 
Five members, including one qualified to preside, shall consti- 
tute a quorum. 

Special meetings shall be called by the Noble Grand on the 



216 ILLINOIS ODD-FELLOWS' CODE. 

written request of five members, or by order of the Lodge at 
' any regular meeting. A special meeting shall not transact any 
business other than that specified in the call. 

Sub. Const. ^ Art. i, Sees. I, 2, 3. 

The Grand Lodge of Illinois has frequently denied and never granted 
permission to hold meetings less frequently than once a week. 

967. A Lodge may not hold meetings less frequently than 
once a week, except by permission of the Grand Lodge; in 
which case twenty-six nights are required for a term's service. 
A Grand Lodge may authorize meetings semi-monthly, or even 
monthly. Sov. iig^, 1232, 1444, 1492. 

968. All the business of the Subordinate Lodge shall be 
transacted in the Third Degree, or Degree of Truth. The 
Lodge shall open in each degree for the purpose of conferring 
it : and each degree shall be conferred when the Lodge is open 
in the degree to be conferred. Sov. 8691, 8765-6. 

969. No Lodge, or Degree Lodge, may hold any meeting 
for work or business upon Sunday, except for funeral purposes. 

Sov. 4834. 

970. A Lodge may meet in the daytime, or at any time 
that suits its convenience, except on Sunday ; but it may not 
open and transact business at an earlier time than that fixed by 
the by-laws, or, in case of a special meeting, by the call. 

971. A Lodge may change its place of meeting from one 
room to another, in the same town or city, without a dispensation 
from the Grand Master. (See Sees. 189, 190, 191.) A Lodge 
may change its evening of meeting upon reporting such change 
to the Grand Secretary, without referring the change of by-law 
to the Grand Lodge for approval. 

972. The presence of the charter in the Lodge is necessary 
to the legality of its proceedings. Ritual. 

■ The charter may be in the ante-room, which is for working purposes a 
part of the Lodge room, 

973. It is contrary to usage and highly improper for any 
Subordinate Lodge to use any means of public alarm for the 
purpose of calling its members together. 

974. If some accident or urgent alarm (as a fire near at 
hand) should disperse a Lodge meeting without regular closing, 



ILLINOIS ODD-FELLOWS' CODE. 217 

the members should reassemble, if possible, and go on with their 
work. If this is not done, the Secretary should make full state- 
ment of the fact on his record. The next meeting should be 
held in usual manner, taking up any unfinished business of the 
disturbed meeting. 

975. If a brother makes application for admission into the 
Lodge room, in proper manner and time, he has a right, if cor- 
rect, to be admitted. But no brother has a right to enter or 
remain in the Lodge room, while the Lodge is in session, unless 
he be clothed in full in the regalia of his rank or station ; and 
he may not speak or vote unless so clothed, provided the neces- 
sary regalia be furnished and at hand. 

976. A brother in good standing cannot be kept out of his 
Grand or Subordinate Lodge while the minutes of the preced- 
ing meeting are being read, if he desires to enter and can work 
his way into the Lodge, Sov. 6350. 

977. A motion to adjourn to a definite time is never in 
order. A motion to adjourn sine die is always in order : if it is 
carried, the Noble Grand must at once proceed to close in due 
form, not calling through the regular order of business. The 
next meeting is not a continuation of an adjourned meeting, 
but is a regular meeting, unless a called meeting intervenes. 

Sov. 5177. 

978. Five members always constitute a quorum in a Sub- 
ordinate Lodge, including one who is qualified to preside. The 
presence of a quorum is legally ascertained by calling the roll. 
Records should show a quorum present. A Lodge cannot be 
opened nor transact any business unless a quorum be present, 
and a member of the Lodge who is the Noble Grand or Vice 
Grand, or who is a Past Grand, be present to take the principal 
chair, 

979. If a meeting is held with an apparent quorum present, 
but so many are disqualified to vote that there are less than five 
legal voters, all business done at such a meeting is illegal : a 
withdrawal card issued at such meeting is illegal and void, and 
the brother taking it is still a member. Such business can be 
valid or made valid in a few cases only, in which the rights of 
third parties are involved. . Sov. 8108, 

One of the cases where such action would become vahd is that a 
withdrawal card so taken should be deposited in another Lodge^ and the 



218 ILLINOIS ODD-FELLOWS' CODE. 

brother be received into membership : an error in granting the card would 
not invaHdate his membership. An initiation at such meeting would not be 
void. It does not follow from the illegality of proceedings that they can 
be set aside : they may have drawn on some consequences that cannot be 
recalled, and must be validated. 

g8o. A member may not be prohibited from leaving the 
Lodge at proper periods during the meeting, provided a quorum 
remains : and the Noble Grand may not, by refusing the saluta- 
tion, compel a brother to remain, if he wishes to retire. 

981. When a Lodge fails to be opened at its regular meet- 
ing by reason of the absence of officers, it is competent for the 
brothers present to organize informally, note the absentees, 
adjourn, and notify the Lodge of the same at its next regular 
meeting; and this proceeding shall authorize the entering of 
fines against the delinquents, if the by-lav7S enact fines for 
absence. 

982. If a session be called in conformity w^ith the lav7 of a 
Lodge, any business transacted at that session in conformity 
with the call is in open Lodge. Cards granted at a special 
session are granted in open Lodge, in accordance with law. 

983. A Lodge has legal presiding officers, if a Past Grand 
is in the principal chair, and a Third-Degree member in place 
of the Vice Grand. If in such case the Past Grand leaves his 
chair for a temporary absence (6'<?r. 284), his Right Supporter 
fills it. Sov. 1840. 

984. When the time for opening Lodge arrives and the 
Noble Grand has assumed his station, he is from that moment 
in the exercise of official duties ; and the Lodge is really in 
session : he should use the gavel in calling up the Lodge ; and 
all present should obey it as readily in the opening ceremony 
as after the Lodge is declared opened. 

985. While the Lodge is in session, from the time it is 
opened until it is regularly closed, it is under the control of the 
Noble Grand. Should the Lodge resolve itself into committee of 
the whole, it may appoint a chairman for the committee, who, 
however, will not be invested with the powers of the Noble 
Grand ; but the Noblp Grand retains a supervisory power over 
the Lodge, and may, upon good cause, dissolve the committee 
and resume the regular session. 



ILLINOIS ODD-FELLOWS' CODE. 219 

986. The law of decisions on points of order and of 
appeals thereon, and of appeals from the Noble Grand during 
trials, see in Sees. 944, 962. 

987. A report is not properly before the Lodge until read 
in open Lodge either by the Secretary or some brother, so 
that the Lodge may judge whether the report is germane to the 
question, and couched in proper language ; the report is not in 
possession of the Lodge until placed there by vote of the Lodge, 
which vote, if carried, discharges the committee without further 
motion. The report of an investigating committee is not before 
the Lodge until it is read by the Secretary : prior to the reading 
of such report the name of the candidate may be withdrawn. 
{Sec. 398.) 

988. If a report is written, it should be intelligible of itself. 
But the report of a visiting committee may be oral or written, 
or partly written and partly oral: it is sufficient if the Lodge 
accept it. 

989. The books of Subordinate Lodges prescribe the 
character of the business to be transacted by them, but the order 
of taking it up, as laid down in those books, is not compulsory, 
and may be changed when the convenience of a Lodge requires it. 

Sov. 1064, 5177. 

990. A Lodge may transact business under the head of 
" Good of the Order." 

991. It is not necessary to obtain the unanimous consent 
of a Lodge to give a visiting brother the right to speak in the 
Lodge ; but permission may be given by a majority vote, as well 
as by general consent. 

992. Small attendance of members is no reason for setting 
aside legal action of a Lodge. 

993. The records of a Lodge must present an accurate 
transcript of the real proceedings, and no alteration which makes 
a false record is allowable. If the Lodge errs and afterward 
corrects itself, it must so appear in the records. The power to 
alter, amend or expunge any portion of the records simply 
extends to a correction of clerical errors, so that the Secretary 
may be set right when wrong ; but in no case does it authorize a 
Lodge to put wrong for right, or falsehood for truth. It is the 



220 ILLINOIS ODD-FELLOWS' CODE. 

duty of the Secretary of a Lodge to record all the regular pro- 
ceedings of a Lodge, whether they be legal or illegal. It is not 
his province to judge of their legality. When a motion has been 
made, seconded and debated, and afterward withdrawn, both 
the motion and withdrawal should appear upon the minutes. 

994. The announcement of the receipts of the evening is 
a part of the transactions of the evening, and should appear on 
the Secretary's record. 

995. Subordinate Lodges cannot be required by their 
Grand Lodges to mutilate the records of their proceedings. 

Sov. 782. 

996. When minutes of a meeting come up for considera- 
tion, if the record made by the Secretary is not satisfactory, the 
Lodge can order any statement of facts entered upon the record; 
and such order is legal and valid. 

997. The proper time for amending or altering records is 
at the meeting at which they were made, or at the next succeed- 
ing meeting, when before the Lodge for approval. But if at 
any time afterward it is found that the record is incorrect by 
omission or otherwise, the Lodge may amend it, but not the Sec- 
retary: his power over the record ended with the approval of it. 
In such case the original record should not be altered by erasure, 
interlineation, or the like. The fact that an amendment has 
been made should be noted back on the original record : but 
the substance of the alteration and the circumstances of its 
being made should appear in full in the records of the meeting 
at which it was made, and there only. The practice of erasing, 
interlining, etc., to correct a record, is fundamentally wrong. 

998. The Secretary should have the records present at 
every meeting; and should not, unless there is some great 
necessity for doing so, ever take them out of the Lodge room. 

999. State Grand Bodies are authorized to permit their 
subordinates which work in foreign languages to keep their 
records in their own language only. But if they keep records 
in their own language only, their Grand Bodies or the executive 
officers thereof may compel them to furnish extracts from their 
minutes translated into English whenever they shall require it. 

Sov. 1 1 13, 21 14. 



ILLINOIS ODD-FELLOWS' CODE. 221 

looo. A Lodge must keep its records in the language in 
which it works. 

looi. Initiation makes a man an Odd-Fellow, entitled to 
the advantages and benefits of membership, except those that 
depend upon grade and rank, and except pecuniary benefits [Sec. 
548). As soon as he has received the Third Degree, he has the 
right to a voice and a vote in all proceedings : he may propose 
as well as vote for a candidate. 

1002. Members who intend to withdraw from a Lodge 
have all rights of voting as long as they remain members, unless 
excluded by interest. [Sec. 103.) Sov. 5522. 

1003. No member or members of any Subordinate Lodge 
shall vote upon any question in which he or they may be in- 
terested, or in which he or they intend to become interested by 
reason of his or their connection or intended connection with 
any Lodge or Encampment of this Order, then existing or about 
to exist, or with any other organization. And should a member 
or members so vote, he shall, upon the discovery and proof of 
the fact, be considered guilty of unbecoming conduct, for which 
he may be suspended from the Order. And the Lodge in which 
the offense was committed may, in case said member lias joined 
some other Lodge of this Order, institute charges for said offense 
in said other jurisdiction, with the right to appeal from its 
decision should the brother be acquitted of the charges. 

Sov. 5776. 

This law was made with special reference to cases in which members are 
about to leave one Lodge to join another, and yet continue to vote on ques- 
tions affecting the pecuniary interest of both bodies, while their real interest 
in the Lodge in which they vote has virtually ceased. [This law is notable, 
too, as containing the first distinct recognition by the S.G.L. of a right to 
appeal against an unjust acquittal ] The following is an Illinois case. 

Case. — Proposition to rent a Lodge room to an Encampment being 
voted on, the Deputy ruled that the members of the Encampment in the 
Lodge could not vote on the rate of rent, on account of interest in the result. • 
Decided, That as members of the Lodge they were interested in its wel- 
fare, and were not disqualified. 

1004. Every [qualified] brother present in a Lodge is 
obliged to vote on all questions, unless excused by the Lodge; 
and no particular number of votes is necessary, so long as a 
quorum is present. (See Sees. 764, 979, 1003.) Sov. AS<^'2.. 

This rule applies also to Grand Bodies: see S.G.L. Rule of Order 34 ; 
G.L. 111. Rule of Order, VII, 2, adopting Robert's Rules of Order, which 
gives this principle : Cushing's Manual, Sec. 244. But a directly-interested 



222 ILLINOIS ODD-FELLOWS' CODE. 

party may not vote : for example, an accused party may not vote on ques- 
tions arising in his trial, Sec, 698; a member of G.L., whose seat is 
contested may not vote on a question affecting his claim. 111. 1856, 93 ; and 
the Representative of a Lodge may not vote in the consideration of an 
appeal taken by his Lodge. Sov. 4363, except in the S. G.L., Sec. 16, above. 

1005. All voting in Subordinate and Degree Lodges is 
done by the voting sign, unless otherwise provided. The excep- 
tion inckides (i) all ballots, by balls or in elections; (2) occa- 
sions when the yeas and nays are ordered; (3) rising vote on 
obituary resolutions; (4) all votes taken in the Lodge when 
open in any other than the Third Degree. 

Sov. 4993, 8533 ; Ritual. 

1006. In case of a tie vote the question is not lost : the 
Noble Grand should give the casting vote. 

Robert, in his Rides of Order, adopted by the G.L. in 1876 as a stand- 
ard authority, says in Sec. 38, '' When there is a tie vote, the motion fails 
unless the chairman gives his vote for the affirmative." ''Where his vote 
will make a tie, he can cast it and thus defeat the measure." When the 
chairman gives his vote on either side in case of a tie, or when he casts his 
vote with the negative and makes a tie to defeat a measure, in either case 
his vote is ''^the casting vote" which the Constitution (III, 3) authorizes the 
N.G. to cast. The above statement is, therefore, incomplete, covering only 
one class of cases of the use of the casting vote. Robert explains, further, 
that in case of a tie on a motion to strike out, the striking out prevails ; and 
if there is a tie on an appeal from the decision of the Chair, the decision of 
the Chair stands. 

1007. Reconsideration of a ballot is inadmissible, except 
in certain cases provided by law. {^Secs. 409, 410, 411.) 

Sov. 1886, 2403. 

1008. If the accuracy of the count of a vote by the tellers 
is disputed (which is allowable), the vote should be taken 
again, if the objection be made at once, before the declaration is 
concurred in at all : and, even if only the count of the negative 
is disputed, both sides of the vote should be taken again at the 
next trial. Sov. 2783-5. 

1009. All vacancies in committees are filled in the manner 
of the original selection and at regular meetings of the Lodge. 

loio. Committees duly appointed by the Lodge, or under 
its authority, may not, without permission given by the Lodge, 
add to the number of their members, nor assign their duties to 
others. An absent member may be appointed on a committee, 
in the discretion of the Lodge, but cannot be considered derelict 
if he fails to attend to its duties and declines. 



ILLINOIS ODD-FELLOWS' CODE. 223 

loii. A committee cannot have the j^ower to draw on the 
Treasurer of a Lodge for money. 

1012. Committees on matters of grievance or discipline 
[and committees for the examination of visitors, Sov. 690] must 
always be special committees ; and they must not be made 
standing committees by the by-laws of the Lodge. 

1013. As Lodges are forbidden to meet for the transaction 
of business on Sunday, committees of Lodges cannot oblige the 
members thereof to attend, in violation of their conscientious 
scruples; and a Lodge has no right to require attendance of its 
officers or members at such meetings, or to inflict a penalty for 
such non-attendance. Sov. 6329. 

1014. Committees of a Lodge may not transact any busi- 
ness of a secular nature on Sunday, except upon the most urgent 
necessity. 

1015. The Standing Committees of this Lodge shall be a 
Committee of Trustees [Sec. 1016), a Visiting Committee [Sec. 
603), a Finance Committee [Sec. 1025), and such others as may 
be created by the by-laws. Sub. Const., Art. iv, Sec. I. 

1016. Five trustees shall annually be chosen by ballot at 
the regular election in December ; and a plurality of votes shall 
elect. It shall be their duty to act as an Executive Committee 
of the Lodge in carrying out all acts not otherwise provided 
for : to procure Lodge room, fuel, lights, regalia, and all things 
necessary for the comfort of the Lodge, under its direction. 
They shall take the guardianship of all widow^s and orphans of 
the Lodge, and carry out all provisions of the Lodge in relation 
to them; and shall from time to time recommend such action as 
they may deem necessary for the prosperity of the Lodge. They 
shall present to the Lodge at the close of their year of service a 
report of their proceedings. Sub. Const., Art. iv, Sec. 2. 

1017. Trustees must be elected according to the fifth sec- 
tion of the Act of Incorporation of the Grand Lodge. The 
election of Trustees must be at the regular time in December, 
except in Lodges that by special acts of incorporation have a 
different time prescribed. A blank certificate of election is fur- 
nished by the Grand Secretary. The certificate must be recorded 
as required by the statute; and the Deputies of the Grand 
Master are specially charged with the duty of requiring their 



224 ILLINOIS ODD- FELLOWS' CODE. 

Lodges to comply with this law. (See the Act and Form of 
Certificate in Appendix.) 

1018. Trustees of a Lodge are not officers thereof. It is 
not expedient that either the Noble Grand, Vice Grand, Secretary 
or Treasurer shall be a member of the Board of Trustees. 
Unless he is elected to fill a vacancy, the term of a Trustee 
begins on the first of January after he is elected ; and he serves 
a full year. 

1019. If there is a tie in the vote for the election of Trus- 
tees, another ballot must be held, in which the members vote to 
fill as many vacancies as are unfilled by reason of the tie or ties : 
they do not vote for a full ticket of five persons, unless all are 
tied. 

1020. Lodges may not make by-laws that Trustees shall 
hold office during good behavior; and they can be displaced 
from their trusteeship only on conviction of official misconduct, 
or in case of delinquency, or removal from the place where the 
Lodge is located. Only the Lodge, and not the Noble Grand, 
can remove Trustees. 

1021. The Trustees cannot have power given them to 
draw upon the Treasurer; nor can they keep the funds of the 
Lodge, as these can pass into their hands for investment only, 
under the order of the Lodge in each instance. And a Lodge 
may not instruct its Trustees to take the moneys of the Lodge 
and deposit the same in a savings bank, payable to their own 
order. 

1022. The Trustees, and not the Treasurer, are the proper 
custodians of the Treasurer's and all other official bonds. 

1023. If the Trustees are instructed to purchase anything 
for the Lodge, common business rules ought to be followed; 
and if they cannot obtain the articles without the money, they 
cannot be compelled to advance the money, but may ask the 
Lodge to advance it. 

1024. All members are bound to obey the legal mandates 
of their Lodge ; if Trustees refuse, or neglect to report on the 
financial condition of the Lodge when ordered so to do by it, 
they are liable to fine or other penalty, at discretion of the 
Lodge. 



ILLINOIS ODD-FELLOWS' CODE. 225 

1025. The Finance Committee shall consist of three 
members, to be appointed by the Noble Grand on the night of 
his installation. They shall audit and inspect the accounts, 
books, securities, bonds, funds and other property in the hands 
of the Treasurer, and the books and reports of the Secretaries, 
and of other officers and committees charged with the receipt 
and expenditure of money. For this purpose they shall fix a 
time and place to meet the Secretaries and Treasurer, after the last 
regular meeting in each semi-annual term, and shall report in writ- 
ing at the first regular meeting in the next term. They shall also 
examine all other financial matters referred to them, and report 
thereon to the Lodge as soon as practicable. Neither the Treas- 
urer, the Secretary, the Permanent Secretary, nor any member of 
the Board of Trustees, shall be a member of the Finance Com- 
mittee. Sub. Const,, Ai't. iv, Sec. 4. 

A Lodge would find it impossible to obey this law, if its membership 
should be reduced to ten members. 

1026. The Noble Grand has the right to appoint a mem- 
ber of the Finance Committee pro tern., when circumstances 
require it. 

1027. The Visiting Committee, and not the Finance 
Committee, deals with claims for benefits. 



CHAPTER XXVIII. 
Terms, Returns and Reports. 

1028. Each year is divided into two terms of six months 
each, including tw^enty-six nights of meeting. [Some terms 
will have twenty-seven meetings.] If a Lodge is allowed to 
meet semi-monthly, its term must be extended in proportion. 
[Commonly the terms are said to begin January ist and July 
1st, but by the laws] Terms commence on the first meeting in 
January and on the first in July. Grand Bodies may make their 
terms begin with April and October, if deemed expedient ; or 
they may make the term of office one year. Every term con- 
16 



226 ILLINOIS ODD-FELLOWS* CODE, 

tiniies until a new one begins ; hence terms do not end with the 
last meetings in June and December. 

Sov. 900, 901, 912, 1492, 2133,2167,8067, 6276. 

Old terms do not close until the Lodge is opened at its first regular meeting 
of the new term. 

Case. — A subordinate had a by-law that the funeral assessments of a term 
should be charged as dues at the end of the term. 

Decided, That such an assessment could not be charged at the last meet- 
ing in June, as the term does not end till the beginning of the first meeting 
in July. Sov. 6276. 

1029. Semi-annual terms shall commence on the first 
regular meetings in January and July ; the annual term, on the 
first regular meeting in January. Sub. Const., Art. xi, Sec. i. 

1030. A Lodge beginning to work when less than four- 
teen weeks of the regular term remain ' cannot count such 
remaining portion as a term, but must join it to the next full 
term. See the law fully in Sec. 238, and the rule about officers 
in such case. 

103 1. It shall be the duty of the retiring officers, at the 
close of each semi-annual term, to prepare and forward to the 
Grand Lodge, immediately, a full report of the work of the 
term, upon the blank forms furnished from the office of the Grand 
Secretary, and in conformity with the instructions of that officer, 
accompanied by whatever amount may be due to the Grand 
Lodge ; and at the close of each annual term, in iike manner, 
the annual report of membership. Sub. Const., Art. xi, Sec. 2. 

At several times prior to i860 laws were adopted inflicting penalty or 
disability upon Lodges whose reports were not made out in time to reach the 
Grand Secretary within the first month of the new term ; but in i860 all such 
laws were repealed. ///. 1855, 103, 119 ; 1856, 89 ; 1857, 69 ; III, 203. 

1032. The Grand Secretary is directed to prepare and for- 
ward duplicate blanks, of form annexed, to each Subordinate 
Lodge ; and it is the duty of the Secretary of each Lodge to 
make out and forward to the Grand Secretary, with the annual 
returns, a correct and detailed report of the financial condition 
of his Lodge, upon one of the blank forms so furnished. 



ILLINOIS ODD-FELLOWS' CODE. 227 



FORM FOR RETURNS OF FISCAL STATISTICS. 

RECEIPTS OF THE YEAR. 

1. From fees for initiations, admissions by card, reinstatements 

and degrees % 

2 . From dues 

3. From interest and rents 

4. From all other sources (but do not count the princij>ai of 

notes, bonds and stocks collected or sold) 

5. Total receipts % 

EXPENDITURES OF THE YEAR. 

6. Paid for benefits, funeral expenses and charities $ 

7. Paid for hall rent, fuel, lights, janitor's and other services 

8. Paid for Lodge furniture, regalia, emblems, jewels, etc 

9. Paid for ail other expenses (money loaned or invested is 

not to be counted) 

10. Total expenditures % 

ASSETS OF THE LODGE. 

11. Amount of invested funds (notes, bonds, stocks, etc.) $. 

12. Amount of cash in treasury 

13. Cash assets (add items 1 1 and 12 to obtain this) % 

14. Amount of balances due Lodge on accounts of members 

15. Estimated value of chattel property (furniture, regalia, 

jewels, emblems ; also, buildings, if Lodge does not 

own ground on which they stand) 

16. Estimated value of real estate (including buildings thereon, 

if any) 

17. Total assets (add items 13, 14, 15 and 16 to obtain this) 

18. Less indebtedness of Lodge (including advance payments 

from members and liabilities of all kinds) 

19. Net assets, or actual worth of the Lodge % 

1033. After a Lodge has approved the semi-annual or 
annual reports to the Grand Lodge, the Secretary has no right 
to make any alteration without special authority from the Lodge, 
except to correct a palpable clerical error. 

1034. When a Noble Grand is closing his term of service, 
the reports for his term which he certifies must not report him 
as a Past Grand, unless he was so by service still prior to that 
term, as the return must be made out before the installation of 
his successor, and until that return is made he is not a past 
officer of that term. [Sec. 319.) Sov. 3210, 

1035. The report of the Treasurer at the close of his term 



228 ILLINOIS ODD-FELLOWS' CODE. 

should be examined by the Finance Committee of his term, and 
before the first meeting of the new term. 

1036. All term reports which are made to Grand Bodies 
by their subordinates must contain, in their own handwriting, 
the signatures of the elective officers thereof, and be carefully 
preserved by the Grand Scribes and Grand Secretaries. 

Sov. 3478. 

The avowed object of the law of Sec. 1036 is to prevent fraud in obtain- 
ing visiting cards ; and it was adopted in connection with the law given in 
Sec. 1049, i'^ ^^ next chapter. From these circumstances it is plain that the 
above law, although ambiguous in terms, is meant to require the signatures 
of the incoviing elective officers of the new term, and has no reference to 
the outgoing officers of the old term, whose duty it was before the above 
enactment to certify the reports of their term. 

1037. The reports of subordinates should be signed by the 
Noble Grand, Vice Grand and Secretary who fill the chairs of 
those officers on the evening when the reports are presented for 
approval, prior to the installation, whether they are the regular 
or \h.Q pro-te?n. officers. 

1038. The Grand Secretary was authorized to prescribe the 
form for annual and semi-annual returns from subordinates to 
the Grand Lodge; and the printed instructions accompanying 
the blank forms are laws to govern the making up of the reports. 
The reports must be on the blanks furnished by him, and accord- 
ing to instructions. 

1039. The following are the principal points in the Grand 
Secretary's instructions on making reports : 

Clause I . Each Lodge must preserve a duplicate of its reports 
for reference, wdiich must be like the report sent to the Grand 
Secretary, in all respects, and must be recorded in the book 
required to be furnished by the Grand Secretary. 

Clause 2. The semi-annual reports should be made out after 
the close of the last meetings in December and June, so as to be 
ready for approval by the Lodge at the first meetings in January 
and July. 

Clause 3. The annual report should be made out to accom- 
pany the January semi-annual reports, and should be made 
out by the Permanent Secretary, if there is such officer in the 
Lodge. 



ILLINOIS ODD-FELLOWS' CODE. 229 

Clause 4. Names, and not 7}iere numbers^ should be given 
throughout the report, except in the summaries. This is very 
important. 

Clause 5. In giving reasons for suspension, the real cause 
must be given, namely, a brief statement of the charges on 
which the brother was found guilty. It is not sufficient to say 
" for conduct unbecoming," or the like. In cases of expulsion 
for contempt, the nature of the charge or charges is to be 
stated. 

Clatise 6. In the annual report every person is to be listed 
who was a member of the Lodge at the close of the last meeting 
in December, according to his rank at that time : if he has taken 
several degrees during the term, he is listed only under the 
highest. 

Clause 7. The reports of a Lodge should be forwarded imme- 
diately after approval by the Lodge, and in time to reach the 
Grand Secretary during the first month of the new term. The 
date of mailing the report must be entered in the proper blank 
on the back of it, and on the envelope, if one with blank for 
that purpo'^e be furnished by the Grand Secretary. 

Clatise 8. Reports are not to be delayed for installation, or for 
other signatures than those of officers who occupy the chairs 
when they are approved [Sec. 1037), or for any other reason that 
may delay their reaching the Grand Secretary in January or 
July. They may be sent without funds rather than delayed. 
They are to be shown to the installing officer ; but if the install- 
ing officer is not at the Lodge at the first meeting of the term, 
the reports are to be sent and the sending certified to him. 

Clatise 9. Capitation Tax, according to the law in Sees. 198-9, 
must be sent with each report, or in separate letter before or 
after, if not at hand when the report is sent. The persons on 
whom tax is paid are described in Sees. 198-9, with fuller 
explanation in the Grand Secretary's instructions. When two 
Lodges consolidate, the Grand Lodge dues must be paid on all 
members of either Lodge in good standing, unless after such 
consolidation, and before such dues are payable, members are 
regularly dropped for N.P.D. 

Clause 10. The Lodge must pay the expense of sending its 
reports : if sent by express unpaid, the cost is charged to the 
Lodge. 



CHAPTER XXIX. 
Journals and Supplies. 

1040. The various matters contained in the printed Jour- 
nals of the proceedings of the Grand Lodge, as published and 
distributed by the Grand Secretary, are declared legally and 
sufficiently made known and notified to the several Subordinate 
Lodges, from and after the distribution of the Journals. 

1041. The rule of distribution of the Journalof Proceed- 
ings of the Grand Lodge of Illinois is this : five copies to each 
of the elective officers; one copy to each appointed officer, 
to each member of a committee and to each Representative to 
this Grand Lodge; one copy to each Subordinate Lodge in this 
jurisdiction. The Grand Secretary to supply any further 
demand, so far as practicable, at the rate of twenty-five cents per 
copy. Each Lodge is also entitled to one copy of the annual 
Journal of the Sovereign Grand Lodge. {Sec. 68.) 

See Appendix VII. 

1042. By the term supplies are meant the books, cards, 
odes, diplomas, etc., made and sold by the S.G.L, and by the 
Grand Lodge of Illinois. Neither Grand nor Subordinate bodies, 
nor individuals, are allowed to print or publish any of the books, 
cards, diplomas, odes, certificates, etc., of the S.G.L., or any 
portion of the work ; and its diploma or certificate of member- 
ship is the only one that can be recognized, or that can be law- 
fully signed by officers of Lodges. 

Sov. 679, 956, II21, 588, 3135, 4808; also Sec, 1043. 

1043. All State Grand Officers and officers of all Subor- 
dinate Lodges and Encampments are prohibited from signing 
any diploma, certificate or card not issued by the authority of 
the S.G.L. to brothers of the Order, and properly authenticated by 
the signature of the Grand Secretary of the S.G.L., written or 
engraved on the margin thereof. All diplomas, certificates or 
cards not issued by the authority of the S.G.L., which have 
been signed by any officer of a Grand or Subordinate Body, are 



ILLINOIS ODD-FELLOWS' CODE. 231 

of no force or effect, and the same are null and void. But this 
law shall not be construed to apply to certificates issued by 
Grand Officers of state jurisdictions to members of defunct 
Lodges and Encampments, as provided by the laws of the 
S.G.L. {Sec. 1065.) Sov. 3135, 3248. 

1044. The following- articles are kept at the office of the 
Grand Secretary for sale, viz : Visiting and Withdrawal Cards, 
and Dismissal Certificates ; Visiting and Withdrawal Cards for 
Sisters, 7nembers of Rebekah- Degree Lodges only ; Blank Orders 
for A.T.P.W. or for Term P.W. ; Odes, Subordinate Lodge, or 
Degree of Rebekah ; Odes, Funeral, or for Anniversary occasions ; 
Book of Odes with Music ; Diplomas ; Diplomas for Ladies, mem- 
bers of Rebekah-Degree Lodges; Book of Forms; Institution 
Books ; Degree of Rebekah Books ; Ritual, Initiatory and 
Three Degrees, one book ; Anniversary Ceremony ; Funeral Cere- 
mony ; Journal Sovereign Grand Lodge, I.O.O.P"., and Journal 
Grand Lodge of Illinois, excepting Vol. II; and Degree Charts. 

The prices of these articles are changed occasionally ; but the rates may 
always be found on the cover of the annual Journal. 

1045. Of the articles mentioned in the preceding section, 
the Journals of the Grand Lodge of Illinois and of the Sovereign 
Grand Lodge, I.O.O.F., Digests, Book of Forms, Book of Odes, 
Anniversary and Funeral Ceremonies, and Diplomas, are sold 
to individuals ; the other articles must be ordered for Lodges. 
The Grand Secretary is directed not to fill any orders for sup- 
plies unless the cash accompany the order. 

1046. A Lodge may have four Rituals of the work of the 
Subordinate Lodge. Sov. 8701. 

1047. Diplomas are delivered to the State Grand Bodies 
signed by the uSecretary of the S.G.L. ; and when' delivered to 
members of the Order they receive the signature of the Grand 
Master of the State Grand Lodge to which the recipient belongs. 
Diplomas are granted only by vote of Grand or Subordinate 
Bodies. Sov. 800, 574, 1127. 

1048. The Grand Lodge of Illinois has published a hand- 
some engraved charter-plate, which the Grand Secretary is 
authorized to sell to other jurisdictions. The price of impres- 
sions of the charter-plate is fixed at one dollar and fifty cents; 
and of impressions of the border only, at one dollar. 



232 ILLINOIS ODD-FELLOWS' CODE. 

1049. Grand Scribes and Grand Secretaries are prohibited 
from delivering or transmitting visiting or withdrawal cards to 
any person whatever or to any Encampment or Lodge, except- 
ing upon the order in writing of an Encampment or Lodge, 
signed by its Scribe (in the case of an Encampment) or by its 
Secretary (in the case of a Lodge), and authenticated by the 
official seal of the Encampment or Lodge ; except that supplies 
may be delivered to duly-accredited representatives of subor- 
dinates at the sessions of Grand Bodies. Sov. 3478, 5197. 

1050. All new Lodges are furnished without charjje there- 
for with the following: two Rituals; two Degree-of-Rebekah 
Books; one Institution-Book ; twelve Visiting Cards ; six With- 
drawal Cards ; eighteen Odes. 

105 1. A Lodge that works in two languages may have two 
sets of Rituals, one set in each language. Sov. 3513. 

1052. The publication and circulation of " Charts," etc., 
the S.G.L. does not desire to prohibit, so long as they contain no 
certificate or form requiring the signature of any officer of a 
Lodge or Encampment. But all " forms," whether of chart, 
certificate, diploma, or kindred forms published by the S.G.L. , 
are exclusively its property : no one else may issue any of these. 
[Sec. 624.) Sov. 8212, 8340, 81 17. 

1053. The use by Lodges of charts, etc., containing 
figures, emblems and mottoes not found among the recognized 
and legitimate symbols of the Order, is in conflict with our 
organic law : such a practice must be treated as an ofiense. 

Sov. 7760. 



CHAPTER XXX. 



Defunct Lodges. 



1054. A Lodge becomes defunct by failing to hold meet- 
ings for six months, or by failing to make returns for one year, 
thereby forfeiting its charter, or by reduction of its membership 
below five. A Lodge extinct by expulsion or suspension is also 
called defunct. U.S. Digest of \%^^\ Sec. K)-^, above. 



ILLINOIS ODD-FELLOWS' CODE. 233 

1055. Grand Lodges may permit the use of the names and 
numbers of extinct Subordinate Lodges, in their respective juris- 
dictions that have been extinct more than twenty years. 

Sov. 7008. 

1056. Except as enacted in Sees. 61 and 1055, the name 
and number of a defunct subordinate, from whatever cause it 
may have become extinct, cannot be given to any other subordi- 
nate, as the privilege of reviving the defunct body and resuming 
its title belongs to a sufficient number of those in membership at 
its dissohition. Its effects are in like manner preserved for it a 
reasonable length of time, three years or more. 

Sov. 93, 1888, 1952. 

1057. When the members of a defunct Lodge have with- 
drawn from it so that those remaining are less than the constitu- 
tional number for resuscitation [a quorum of five], the Grand 
Secretary is authorized to dispose of its effects. 

1058. A Grand Lodge may allow the resuscitation of a 
defunct subordinate on the application of five of its former 
members, who mu-t have attained the Third Degree, giving to 
them the name, charter and effects of the defunct, provided that 
none of tne petitioners is at the time of application connected 
with any other Lodge. (But see next section.) Sov. 4145. 

1059. Grand Lodges may return surrendered charters that 
have remained unclaimed for not less than five years, upon the 
petition of the requisite number of qualified brothers, although 
only one of the petitioners may have been a member of said 
defunct Lodge : F^-ovided, however, that if the requisite num- 
ber of original members be not found among the petitioners, 
it must be apparent that due diligence and effort have been 
made, in good faith, to procure the required number, or no 
surrendered funds, effects and property of the defunct Lodge 
shall be returned with the charter; and in all cases the charter 
fee shall be required, as in case of issuing a new charter. (See 
preceding section.) Sov. 4886. 

1060. The resuscitation of a defunct Lodge, on the appli- 
cation of a portion of its original members, does not restore to 
membership all its former members who were in good standing 
at the time of its dissolution. Members who failed to join in 
the application to restore the charter may resume their member- 



234 ILLINOIS ODD-FELLOWS' CODE. 

ship upon such terms as the local laws of the jurisdiction may 
prescribe. Sov, 1478, 7768. 

See Sec. 394, and the local law of Illinois in full in Sec. 395. 

106 1. When a Lodge is suspended or expelled, its func- 
tions cease for all purposes. If the members continue to act as 
a Lodge, their acts are not voidable, but utterly void, and can- 
not be made valid by a Grand Lodge. When the disability is 
removed, the Lodge begins its life at the point of cessation, the 
officers at the time of suspension, etc., resuming their places. 

Sov. 1 39 1, 2701. 

1062. A Grand Body is not liable for the debts or obliga- 
tions of a defunct subordinate, except to the amount realized 
from the subordinate's effects or funds surrendered ; and to that 
amount it is legally and morally liable for the payment of bene- 
fits given by another Lodge to a member of its defunct subordi- 
nate. Sov. 3062-3, 3107. 

1063. The funds and property of defunct Lodges may, at 
the option of the body holding the same, be used for the purpose 
of assisting working Lodges when in need of funds to sustain 
them in their organization ; or they may be applied for ^he assist- 
ance of the widows and orphans of such defunct bodies, or to 
any relief fund which may exist in such Grand Jurisdiction : 
Provided, that, where a fund is held on a specific trust, when 
such subordinate becomes defunct, the Grand Body shall see 
that such trust is duly executed and the trust fund applied to the 
purposes for which the fund was created. Sov. 5516. 

1064. W^hen the Widow and Orphan funds of a defunct 
Lodge pass into the treasury of a Grand Lodge, they shall be 
credited separately and distinctly, and so held. After the five 
years within which no reclamation shall have been made of the 
funds so surrendered, the final disposition of them is, under 
existing law, within the control of that body. Specific trusts 
are, however, to be executed, if possible, and a widow and 
orphan fund should be applied to the use of such beneficiaries. 
(See Sec. 481.) Sov. 6594. 

1065. When a Subordinate Lodge becomes extinct, any 
member thereof is, on paying dues charged against him, entitled 
to receive from the Grand Master and Grand Secretary, or other 
authority prescribed by law of the jurisdiction, a card of with- 



ILLINOIS ODD-FELLOWS' CODE. 235 

drawal equivalent in force and effect to a withdrawal card issued 
by a subordinate, and which shall entitle him to the same rights 
and privileges. The officers to whom the application is made 
must require satisfactory evidence that the applicant is at the 
time worthy of the recommendation to the " friendship and pro- 
tection " of the brotherhood. The Lodge must also have 
surrendered its charter and all effects. Sov. 3088, 31 13. 

1066. The withdrawal card or certificate authorized by the 
preceding section can be granted only after the charter has been 
reclaimed or declared forfeited : it cannot be given in case the 
Lodge has merely failed to hold meetings, but is not yet declared 
defunct. Sov. 8113. 

1067. Members of a defunct Lodge who were in good 
standing at the time of its dissolution, as may appear by the 
records of such Lodge, or who may have paid to the Grand 
Lodge all arrearages then due by them, shall, upon application 
to the Grand Secretary, receive a certificate, under the seal of 
the Grand Lodge, which shall entitle them to the same privi- 
leges as a withdrawal card, and for the same time, to enable 
them to make application for admission to membership in another 
Lodge : Provided, that no such certificate shall be given ^o 
a member of a suspended or expelled Lodge, unless ordered 
by special vote of the Grand Lodge. 

G.L. By-Law, Art. ii, Sec. 3. 

1068. In case of application for a Grand Lodge card or 
withdrawal certificate by a former member of a defunct Lodge, 
the same shall be granted on proof to the Grand Master of 
worthiness and the payment of the sum of one dollar by the 
applicant. 

1069. When the books of an extinct Lodge have become 
lost or destroyed, the Grand Master and Grand Secretary, or the 
Grand Sire and Grand Secretary, as the case may be, on being 
satisfied of the good standing of any member of such extinct 
Lodge, may issue to him a card of withdrawal, Avhich has the 
same force and effect, and entitles him to the same privileges, as 
a card of withdrawal issued by existing subordinates. Without 
such card of withdrawal a member of an extinct subordinate 
cannot be admitted as an Ancient Odd-Fellow. 

Sov. 2860, 3540. {See Sec. 756, CI. 8.) 



236 ILLINOIS ODD-FELLOWS' CODE. 

1070. The Grand Master and Grand Secretary are, under 
Sec. 1069, authorized to grant withdrawal cards to brothers sus- 
pended or expelled for N.P.D. only, whose Lodges afterward 
become defunct, provided such brothers furnish evidence of good 
standing and moral character in the community and pay arrear- 
ages. {Sec. 1067.) 

This law is valid, but practically obsolete ; as a brother in such condition 
generally piefers to apply for a dismissal certificate and pay the fee of 
one dollar. By taking the withdrawal card he gains the right of visiting for 
one year from its date, which he cannot have with the dismissal certificate. 

107 1. A Grand Body or its chief officer has full power to 
grant a card to a member largely in arrears to a defunct subordi- 
nate, both by reason of the resumption of the functions of the 
extinct subordinate and by reason of- original control over all 
members in the jurisdiction. This discretionary power implies a 
judicious investigation into each case. 6*^2/. 2561-62. 

The Grand Lodge of Oregon asked whether, in case of the extinction of a 
Lodge for misconduct and the reclamation of its charter and surrender of its 
effects, the Grand Lodge can discriminate between members thereof, giving 
cards to some and refusing to others, or whether it must give cards to all in 
good standing on its books. The Judiciary Committee reported that the 
Grand Lodge might order its subordinate to try individuals for the insubor- 
dination, or might proceed against the Lodge itself and condemn it, but that 
itfojld not do both; that it could not try the Lodge and then punish the 
individual member ; that if clear of the books at the extinction of the Lodge, 
each individual had a right to a clearance card ; that no member can be 
found guilty or treated as guilty until regularly tried. The committee add 
that new legislation only can meet the difficulties of the case {Sov 4639). 
The S.G.L. postponed action on the report (pp. 4673-4), and it was never 
called up again. But the S.G.L. had twice previously decided against the 
doctrineof the Judiciary Committee: in 1856, confirming Grand Sire's 15th 
decision. Sec. 1071, requiring investigation into each case ; and again in 1859 
{your. 3113), Sec, 1065, directing officers to ascertain whether an applicant 
for dismission from a defunct Lodge is worth}^ or not. 



CHAPTER XXXL 
Funerals. 

1072. Two forms of Funeral Ceremony for general use. have 
been adopted by the S.G.L., and a third for use in the Lodge 
room, house or church. These may be found in the Book of 
Forms, or may be obtained in pamphlet form. 
^^'Z'. 961,1087; 6173,6221; 7382,7474; 8128,8180; 8349,8461. 



ILLINOIS ODD-FELLOWS' CODE. 237 

1073. The adoption of Eddy's '' Tactics and Drill for Uni- 
formed Patriarchs" did not adopt any funeral service connected 
therewith. Sov. 8372. 

1074. It is the duty of every Lodge of the I.O.O.F. to see 
that the bodies of its unsuspended members who may die are 
decently and properly buried, and to provide for the payment of 
all necessary funeral expenses ; and the members of the Lodge 
must be required to turn out at funerals without regard to the 
pecuniary standing of such members at the time of death, or 
whether such members were then beneficial or otherwise. And 
if the by-laws so provide, the members not attending the funeral 
ought to be fined. The only class of persons who have connec- 
tion with the Lodge that are excluded from the privilege of 
burial by it are the members suspended for cause and the so- 
called dropped members. 

1075. The Noble Grand is not required to open and close 
his Lodge in regular form when it is called to attend the funeral 
of a brother. Sov. 7735. 

1076. State Grand Lodges may determine whether the 
dead can be buried by a committee of the Lodge, or by the 
whole Lodge. So%!. 6752. 

1077. Lodges may by their by-laws provide for the burial 
of a brother by a committee or portion of the Lodge. 

1078. Members of a Lodge who have been summoned to 
attend the funeral of a brother are liable under Lodge by-laws 
to penalty for non-attendance, if not present as Odd-Fellows, 
with their Lodge, even though present at the funeral in the 
ranks of another society. 

1079. A Lodge cannot, in a body as a Lodge, attend the 
funeral of a deceased Ancient Odd-Fellow, and conduct the 
services according to the ritual of the Order. Sov. 6752. 

1080. A Lodge has not the right to use the funeral ser- 
vice or wear the regalia on the occasion of the decease of a 
sister of the Degree of Rebekah ; nor is there any law author- 
izing a Lodge to wear the regalia on the occasion of the funeral 
of the wife of a brother. 

1081. Odd-Fellows may appear in regalia at the funeral 



238 ILLINOIS ODD-FELLOWS' CODE. 

of a Daughter of Rebekah, in case they first obtain permission 
so to do from the proper Grand Officers of the jurisdiction. 

Sov. 6235. 

1082. After the decease of a Daughter of Rebekah, the 
Lodge may ask the Grand Master for dispensation to wear 
regalia at her funeral, and he may grant permission. 

1083. It is inexpedient and improper for a Lodge to unite 
in any public expressions of regret for the death of a distinguished 
citizen, unless the deceased was a member of the Order. 

This is not construed as prohibiting the Order from uniting with civil 
authorities in expressions of regret for the death of a distinguished civil 
officer. 



CHAPTER XXXIL 
Miscellaneous. 

1084. The proper title of the Order is " The Independent 
Order of Odd-Fellows," to be abbreviated *'I.O.O.F.," and 
not " I.O. of O.F." It is not to be translated in German into 
" U.O.S.B." : in all languages "I.O. O.F." must be the designa- 
tion. Sov. 171, 4868, 5902. 

In the early days of the Order the name was sometimes used ** Order of 
Independent Odd-Fellows/' abbreviated '' O.I.O.F." The charter of the 
Grand Lodge of Ohio was so headed. Sov. 179, 187, 200, 201. 

1085. The term " Lodge," when used in our laws without 
qualification, means a Subordinate Lodge of the Order in good 
standing. Sov. 1 149. 

1086. The twenty-sixth of April, the anniversary of the 
introduction of the Order into this country in 181 9, is estab- 
lished as the anniversary of this Order; and all Grand Lodges 
are requested to urge their subordinates to observe the day in 
some appropriate manner, and to authorize them to hold on that 
day public processions in regalia. Sov. 41, 64, 4210, 7377. 

1087. A general dispensation authorizing the Subordinate 
Lodges to celebrate the anniversary of the Order by public 



ILLINOIS ODD- FELLOWS' CODE. 239 

exercises not contrary to the recognized laws and customs of the 
Order, does not authorize Lodges to have balls, festivals, etc., 
without first complying with the law i^Secs. 212, 215), and 
obtaining a special dispensation for the purpose. A Lodge may 
celebrate the Fourth of July ; but it may not pay any part of the 
expenses of such celebration from its general fund, except the 
expenses of the orator; and that expense may be so defrayed 
only when his address is upon Odd-Fellowship. 

1088. Canvassing in the Lodge rooms of Illinois for the 
sale of books, certificates, charts and other articles is forbidden. 

io8g. All magazines, periodicals, or other publications 
[except journals of proceedings, digests, and the standard tract] 
purporting to treat upon Odd-Fellowship are solely and entirely 
upon the responsibility of their editors and publishers, having 
no sanction or authority from the S.G.L. for anything appearing 
therein. Sov, 792. 

1090. It is recommended that the public press be used as 
a means of advancing the interests of the Order. Notices of 
times and places of meeting published in the local papers are 
advised. A liberal encouragement should be afforded to our 
own press. All publications issued in the interest and for the 
welfare of the LO.O.F. are recognized as official organs of the 
Sovereign Grand Lodge ; and all Odd- Fellows are advised to 
subscribe for one or more of the many Odd-Fellows' publica- 
tions of the day. Sov. 4420, 8383. 

1091. Lodge Libraries are a necessity of the Order, and 
should by all means be encouraged ; and funds of Lodges may 
be appropriated for that purpose ; but the manner and measure 
of such appropriations are proper subjects of local legislation. 

Sov. 4917, 6985. 

1092. The Grand Lodge urges upon subordinates the im- 
portance of the formation of libraries wherever practicable. 
Lodges are required to report, with the semi-annual returns for 
July in each year, the number of volumes in their respective 
libraries, the Grand Secretary's blanks being prepared therefor. 

1093. The order of arrangement of a procession of the 
Order at a funeral is given in " The Book of Forms." In other 
processions the same order is to be observed as far as practi- 



240 ILLINOIS ODD-FELLOWS' CODE. 

cable, and the same rules of precedence. The Encampment 
branch is considered more exalted than the subordinate, and 
precedence is generally given to the Patriarchal Degrees. This, 
however, may be controlled by circumstances ; as, for example, 
where the procession is organized under and in behalf of a 
single Subordinate Lodge. In this case precedence is usually 
given to the body under which and on whose behalf the proces- 
sion is organized. In a procession, sashes are to be worn only 
by officers and past officers. Sov. 346, 962, 1932. 

It will be observed that in the procession the rear is the post of honor ; 
the members of lowest rank go before all others, and the Past Grands are 
the last of the unofficial brothers ; the elective officers and Noble Grand close 
up the Lodge ranks ; the corpse of the deceased brother again comes in rear 
of all. Hence, in assigning an Encampment a "place in a procession in 
which it appears as an organization, it would take precedence by coming in 
the rear of all Lodges. The reason of this is apparent when the effect of the 
countermarching is noticed : that brings those of highest rank foremost at 
the place of ceremony, while they are heralded on the march by those of 
lower ranks. 

So, active officers are of higher rank than past officers, and go behind 
them ; all officers (except the O.G., who is foremost of all, and the Scene 
Supporters, who come next after the O.G.) are placed after the Past Grands. 
Past Grands who have the R.P.D. are behind others : and the Past 
Grands are arranged in order of seniority, the seniors last. Lodges and 
Encampments take precedence (that is, rearward position) by seniority. If 
all five ranks of bodies were in procession at once, they would be in this 
order : (i) Lodges ; (2) Encampments ; (3) Grand Lodges ; (4) Grand En- 
campments ; (5) The Sovereign Grand Lodge. 

1094. In all authorized processions of the Order, those 
Patriarchs entitled to a place in the procession, who may be pres- 
ent clothed with prescribed uniform, shall be assigned to the 
place and perform the duty of an escort to the procession ; and 
while so engaged, they shall be under the exclusive charge and 
direction of a chief captain and such subordinate captains as 
may be required : said officers shall be elected or appointed in 
such manner and for such time as the local laws may authorize. 

Sov. 6597. 

1095. In a procession organized by the Sovereign Grand 
Lodge, a Grand Representative takes place as a member of that 
body, in precedence over all officers and members of State 
Grand Bodies; but in any other procession he takes place 
according to his rank as an officer of a State Grand Body. 

Sov. 2214. 

1096. Persons not members of the Order or connected 
with it (for instance, ladies who have not the Degree of Rebekah, 



ILLINOIS ODD-FELLOWS' CODE. 241 

though 111 company with brothers) should not be allowed to join 
its public processions. 

1097. A. brother holding a withdrawal card has no right to 
join a procession of the Order without consent of the Lodge by 
which the procession is formed. Sov. 1503. 

1098. The meetings of all Grand and Subordinate Lodges 
may be opened and closed with prayer, which is declared emi- 
nently proper and highly desirable ; but it is not imperatively 
required of Lodges. Prayer is not an integral part of the work 
except in Encampments; and each Lodge may determine for 
itself upon the practicability of opening and closing with prayer. 
A Lodge may not assign it as a duty to any brother or officer 
and enforce the ceremonial by fine or penalty. No one may be 
required to fulfill that ofiice who cannot do so with due solemnity 
or without violation of conscience. Prayer is not a part of the 
work at initiations in a Lodge, and therefore is not admissible. 

Sov. By-Lazvs, Ai^t. xxi ; Sov. 685, 2491, 4890, 8209. 

1099. There are no forms of prayer for opening and closing 
Grand or Subordinate Lodges : each body is authorized to adopt 
a form for itself. Sov. 685, r266. 

1 100. A Lodge may not adopt a form of prayer and print 
it in the appendix to its by-lav^^s or otherwise : even the adoption 
of a form is disapproved. 

iioi. A member of the Order who is a physician engaged 
in active practice of his profession should be exempt from the 
watching service of a Lodge, because of his liability to be sum- 
moned at any time to answer calls of emergency or in haste. 
A physician not in practice has no right to such exemption. 

A Lodge fined a brother, under its by-law, for not attending the funeral of 
a deceased brother. He, being a practicing physician, plead in excuse pro- 
fessional business, and finally appealed to the Grand Master, who sustained 
the by-law as legal, but said that good policy would dictate that he should 
be excused. 

1 102. A brother when sick is entitled to attention and 
watching without reference to state lines or jurisdictions, when 
within a reasonable distance of the Lodge. The question what 
is a reasonable distance should be determined by the Lodge 
according to the circumstances of each case. (See Sec. 958, 

a. 7.) 

17 



242 ILLINOIS ODD-FELLOWS' CODE. 

1 103. The letting of a Lodge room for public exhibitions is 
of doubtful expediency, but it may be done, provided the regular 
work of the Lodge be not thereby interfered with, nor any of its 
property damaged, injured or endangered. A Lodge may rent 
its hall for religious meetings. 

1 104. A Lodge has no right to sell or dispose of its regalia, 
emblems, or Lodge-room furniture, when the Lodge would 
thereby be left deficient in the paraphernalia requisite for the 
performance of regular work. 

1 105. The S.G.L. has adopted forms for public dedication 
of halls and for laying corner-stones, and directs that none 
others be used for these purposes by the Order. It has also 
adopted a form of anniversary service for the 26th of April. 
(See Book of Forms and White's U.S. Digest, ist edition.) 

^Sov. 3278, 4387, 6181. 

1 106. A member of the Order in good standing is a brother 
at all times, and members of the Order are bound to recognize 
him as such. Lodges may not, in their by-laws, forbid the -use 
of the title " Brother " in public. 

1 107. Relief of a person who has entered the Order under 
an assumed name and who desires to resume his own name is a 
proper subject for local legislation. Sov. 6187, 7031. 

1 1 08. Good standing signifies contributing membership in a 
Subordinate Lodge, and freedom from any disability by reason 
of non-payment of dues, or of charges under the penal provisions 
of the Lodge. All members of Lodges in the condition above 
defined are in good standing in their Lodges ; and all brothers 
who hold legal unexpired and unrevoked withdrawal cards are 
in good standing in the Order, though not members of any Lodge. 
(See Sec. 361; also. Sec. 958, CI. 13.) Sov. 497, 2954. 

1 109. The Grand Lodge recommends to all its subordinates 
to insure all their property against loss by fire. (See Sec. 209.) 

mo. The Grand Lodge of Illinois is by law a corporate 
body, with the ordinary powers and privileges of such corpora- 
tions, and the power to hold property not exceeding in annual 
value ^20,000. The Grand Officers constitute the corporation 
under the title of " The Grand Lodge of the State of Illinois of 
the Independent Order of Odd-Fellows." [See the act of 



I 



ILLINOIS ODD-FELLOWS' CODE. 243 

Incorporation (Dated Feb. Cth, 1849) given in full in Journal, 
Vol. I, p. 321, with important amendments (dated Feb. i6th, 
1865) given in Vol. Ill, p. 536; accepted by G.L. 111. in 1865, 
Vol. Ill, p. 561. Given in Appendix to this Code.] 

nil. The word '•^ making^'' in the response of the O.G., 
means making an Odd-Fellow — that is, out of a man, as one 
would make brick out of clay. 

1 1 12. The Odes constitute an integral part of the opening 
and closing ceremonies of the Lodge. Sov. 8532. 

This means that they may not be omitted in opening and closing. If they, 
cannot be sung, they should be read. 

1113. The use of the "ratchet" or " hatchel," sometimes 
called the "bull-ring," for making a hideous noise at the initia- 
tion of a candidate, is an innovation, and is positively prohibited, 
as is any other variation from the initiatory ceremony as laid 
down in the Ritual. 

1 1 14. Members retiring or returning while the Lodge is in 
session must make the proper address to the Chairs, except the. 
Inside Guardian, who has sometmres to be on either side of the 
door, the Outside Conductor when entering with the candidate, 
and the Warden when retiring with the candidate to clothe him 
in regalia. 

1 1 15. Address to the Noble Grand during balloting may 
not be required. The use of the S. at certain times is compli- 
mentary, not obligatory. 

1 1 16. A ballot is closed when it is so declared by the pre- 
siding officer. Sov. 6619. 

1 1 17. The delivery of lectures on Odd-Fellowship, either 
in Lodges or in public, is not consistent with the duties of 
brethren of the Order, unless they are authorized to act in such 
a capacity by special enactment in Lodges or Encampments of 
the state or territory within whose jurisdiction the lectures are 
delivered ; and all enactments of Grand or Subordinate Lodges 
having such an object in view should expire by limitation within 
some reasonable space of time. (See Sees. 1 118, 11 19). 

Sov. 661. 

1 1 18. The law of Sec. 11 17 is so broad as to interdict all 
lectures upon Odd-Fellowship except as there allowed, whether 



244 ILLINOIS ODD-FELLOWS' CODE. 

relating to the work of the Order, or its rise, progress, general 
attributes, or other matters connected with the Order. By 
special enactment alone on the part of a Grand Lodge can [its 
above specified] authority for the delivery of a lecture be con- 
ferred. The Grand Master of himself has no such authority. 

Sov. 1 39 1-2. 

This decision does not interfere with the authority above given to subor- 
dinates ; its object is only to say that, as special enactment is required by 
the terms of the law, a Grand Master cannot use the power given to a Grand 
Lodge. It is plain that the Grand Sire was only interpreting the law of 
1844-5, not reversing or changing it. If the latter clause read '' On the part 
of a Grand Lodge, special enactment alone can confer authority for the de- 
livery of a lecture, " the plain meaning would be the real one of the decision 
given. Any other interpretation would forbid the universal usage that a 
Lodge may invite a bro.ther to give an address at a celebration or festival. 
(See Sec. 1119.) 

1 1 19. Subordinate Lodges may authorize (under authority 
of Sec. 1 1 17) the delivery of lectures on the doctrines and prac- 
tices of the Order, in public or in private, for a limited time. 
The invitation to a brother to deliver an address to the public or 
,to the Lodge is such authority [for him to speak] as is required. 
It is, in effect, an enactment expiring within a reasonable time ; 
to wit, when the invitation has been accepted and complied 
with. 

1 120. It is not illegal that members of a Lodge, by 
appointment of the Noble Grand, shall, when the Lodge is 
opened under the head of " The Good of the Order," deliver 
addresses or read essays on Odd-Fellowship, to which subject 
they must be confined. Sov. 6752, 7038. 

1 1 21. Pleasure excursions by Lodges on the Sabbath day 
[Sunday] are not allowed. 

1 122. Grand Lodges are requested to take action at as 
early a day as possible, and, where practicable, to provide for the 
establishment of suitable places where the orphan children of 
the members of the Order in their several jurisdictions may be 
supported and educated. Also, for the establishment, at suit- 
able localities, of asylums for the use and benefit of valetudinary 
members of the Order, where they may be comfortably supported 
durmg the remnant of their days. In cases where Grand 
Lodges may omit to take action in relation to either of these 
objects, any Lodge or number of Lodges in such jurisdictions are 



I 



ILLINOIS ODD-FELLOWS' CODE. 245 

authorized to raise the funds necessary, and to apply the same in 
the estabhshment and support of such institutions or asykims. 

Sov. . 



1 1 23. Mutual or Co-operative Life-insurance Companies, 
composed of members of the Order, are not allowed to use the 
name or emblems of the Order in the prosecution of their busi- 
ness; and such associations are not under the supervision or 
control of the Grand Lodge. This prohibition is not meant to 
deprive members of the Order of the right to combine in benevo- 
lent or protective associations, nor to forbid such societies from 
confining their membership to members of the Order. 

Some attempts have been made to establish in the Order a Life-Insurance 
or Endowment plan as a regular part of the operations of Grand Lodges. 
The history may be traced in the Journals by these references : S.G.L. 
Jour. 1877-8-9-80, pp. 7423, 7842, 7881, 8065; 8354, 8402-3 ; 7901, 8c6i, 

G.L. III. your. 1878-9; Vol. ^/, pp. 542, 559, 567, 593-8; 605-9; 715-17. 



APPEl^DIXES. 



I. Practical Codes. 

1. Of Membership: gaining and losing it. 

2. Of Cards and Visiting. 

3. Of Benefits and Relief. 

4. Of Elections and Appointments. 

5. Of Trials. 

6. Of Appeals. 
II. Forms. 

III. Diagram of Lodge Room. 

IV. Acts of Incorporation. 
V. Historical Information. 

1. Sovereign Grand Lodge. 

2. Grand Lodge of Illinois. 

3. Degrees. 

4. Non-payment of Dues. 

5. Miscellaneous. 

VI. References, Sections of Code to Illinois 
Journals. 
VII. Relation of Journals to the Years. 
VIII. Reference Table, Code and Constitutions, 
, Grand and Subordinate, 

IX. Rules of Order, Model Code. 



APPENDIX I. 

PRACTICAL CODES. 

Practical Code No. I.— Of Membership, including the Gain- 
ing and Losing of it; Course of Proceeding; Drop- 
ping ; Reinstatement. 

Division I. Kinds of Membership. 

1. " Contributing," regular, in a Lodge, 361, 764. 

2. Quasi, in the Order, not in Lodge, by holding withdrawal 
card, but by which brother may visit Lodges, join in new 
Lodge, or regain contributing membership in any Lodge, 
361. 

3. Non-Beneficial. 

(a) not attained by initiation, 362, 364 : obtained, by 
card or reinstatement, on terms of local law, by 
brother over fifty years of age, who has been a 
member of the Order five consecutive years, 364, 
425-428. 

This does not mean that a brother over fifty years of age 
mus^ come in as non-beneficial ; but if a Lodge is not wiihng 
to admit him with a right to benefits, it 77zay admit him 
without such right if he is duly qualified. 

(/;) gives all rights but right to benefits, and imposes all 

obligations of the Order, 425, 428. 
((t) can be changed to beneficial membership only by 

withdrawal and rejoining by card, 427. 

4. " Honorary" membership, not allowed, 362. 

. 5. Duplicate, in two Grand or Subordinate Lodges at same 
time, even though one is defunct, not allowed, 362. 

6. Condition of Ancient Odd-Fellow is not membership, 
361, note. 

7. Condition of a person suspended indefinitely* is a sort of 
membership, as he is under the jurisdiction of the Lodge 
and liable to expulsion, 617. 



250 ILLINOIS ODD-FELLOWS' CODE. 

Division II. Qualifications for Membership. 
jPar* A. Genei^al Qualifications. 

1. Prescribed by S.G.L. only, 366. 

2. Candidate [one who seeks contributing or non-beneficial 
membership, 366] must be 

[a) male of twenty-one years of age, 365, 372: no other 
restriction as to age is legal, 365, 366 ; no dispensa- 
tion needed for persons over forty-five, note to 366. 

[b) of good moral character, 365, 368, 372. 

(<f) of white race, 365, 367, 372, excluding Indians, half- 
breeds, Chinese, Polynesians, as well as negroes. 

(d) believer in existence of Supreme Being, 365, 372; 
but no religious belief or disbelief, except atheism, 
disqualifies, 365. 

[e) industrious, having known means of support, 372. 
(/■) not member of another Lodge, 362, except as in Div. 

II, Part C, at end. 
(^g) resident within the jurisdiction of the Lodge, 372, 
373, 374, 381, 382; but Lodges in same town or 
city have concurrent jurisdiction, 373 ; actual resi- 
dence is determined by habitation, intention of stay- 
ing, place of family and employment, etc., 375 ; 
jurisdiction of Lodge determined by distance, con- 
venience of travel, voting, business relations, etc., 
376; penalty of breach of residence law is that 
offending Lodge forfeits fee for initiation or other 
admission, and sometimes also degree fees, 373, 374. 
Exceptions to i-estriction of residence. — (i) If the 
Lodge having jurisdiction consents, 373, 374 ; (2) if 
brother takes card to organize new Lodge, 383; (3) 
one residing nearer to Lodge in adjacent state may 
join there without special consent, if that state has 
reciprocal law, as Indiana and Wisconsin have, 380; 
(4) one not understanding language of nearest Lodge 
may join remoter one, if remoter one gets Grand 
Master's dispensation, 378. 

Tart jB. Qualifications for Initiation. 

Beside having general qualifications as above, a candidate 
for initiation must be 

I. Exempt from infirmities that prevent gaining a livelihood, 
372. 



ILLINOIS ODD-FELLOWS' CODE. 251 

2. Not so blind, deaf or dumb as to be unable to use signs 
and passwords, 369. 

3. Resident in the jurisdiction for six months, 372. 

4. Or else known for six months to brothers who recommend 
him, 372. 

5. Sufficiently acquainted with language to understand work, 

378. 

Fart C. Qualifications for Ad?nission by Ca7'd. 

A candidate by card must, beside general qualifications, 

1. Have an unexpired withdrawal card of a Lodge of the 
Order, 381, 382. 

(a) or certificate of issue of withdrawal card, if card is 
lost, 513. 

2. Or have card from Grand Officers, 756, 395, 509. 

3. Have A.T.P.W. of the year in which card is dated, 
381, 838, 840, without which he is only an Ancient Odd- 
Fellow, 384 (Div. II, Part D). 

4. But need have no period of residence, 379. 

Exception to possession of card. — A member of twenty- 
five years' standing in the Order, who is still a member 
of a Lodge, may apply for membership without a card. 
Upon election, he must get withdrawal card from his 
Lodge : depositing this, and paying the fee, he is entitled to 
sign the constitudon, thus gaining full membership, 387. 

Fart J). Qualifications of Ajicient Odd-Felloiv. 

1. An Ancient Odd-Fellow is one who left the Order by 
letting his withdrawal card expire, or by resignation, 392; 
one who holds a dismissal certificate, 392, note, is sub- 
stantially an Ancient Odd-Fellow. 

2. A candidate as an Ancient Odd-Fellow must have satisfac- 
tory evidence of former membership, 390; which must be 
(a) his expired card, 391, 392. 

\b) or certificate of resignation, 537, 539, 540. 

(<:) or dismissal certificate, 391, 756 (5-8), 772, 773, 

which is valid without A.T.P.W., 774. 
[d) or ability to pass thorough examination in the work of 

the Order, ranking as he proves himself, 392. 

3. Lacking such evidence, person claiming to be an Ancient 
Odd-Fellow must be reinitiated, 388, 390, 392, and ranks 
as a new member, 389. 



252 ILLINOIS ODD-FELLOWS' CODE. 

Division III. The Proposition. 

1. Offered by member of Lodge, in writing, 396, 400; see 
Form 13, Appendix. 

2. Offered at regular meeting only, 396. 

3. With full amount of initiation or admission fee, 396, 397, 
and with good reference, 396, and stating name, age, resi- 
dence and business of candidate, 396. 

4. Stating whether for initiation, admission by card, non- 
beneficial membership, or as Ancient Odd-Fellow, 396. 

5. Accompanied by card, or other evidence, if for admission 
by card, or as Ancient Odd-Fellow, or for non-beneficial 
membership, 517, 400, 382, 419; Lodge is not obliged to 
admit holder of withdrawal card, 382 ; report and ballot- 
ing and judgment of his case necessary, 382. 

6. Becomes property of Lodge when read, 397 ; no vote to 
receive is necessary, 397. 

7. Entered on record, and referred to Investigating Com- 
mittee, 396. 

8. May be withdrawn without consent of Lodge before 
report, 398, but never after it is once reported on, 398, 
even with consent. 

9. If withdrawn, can be offered anew, but cannot be rein- 
stated at the stage of proceeding at which it was when 
withdrawn, 399. 

10. May be recommitted, 396. 

Obsei^ve, holder of withdrawal card, rejoining Lodge from which 
he drew it, must go through the regular course. 

Division IV. Investigating Committee. 

1. Special committee of three, N.G. not a member, 396, 
401 ; the N.G. appoints two and the V.G. one, 273, 287. 

2. Investigate character and health of candidate, 401, 385. 

3. Report (see Forms 13 and 14, Appendix) at first or 
second regular meeting thereafter, 396. 

{a) except under dispensation, reporting at once, 401. 
(b) or later, if more time is given, 401. 

4. If new or partly new committee is made to take place of 
first appointed, new committee reports a week later, 401. 

5. Report must be made by at least two of the committee, 
concurring, 401. 

6. Should not act on verbal or informal proposition, 401. 

7. May or must be appointed on applications for reinstate- 
ment, Div. X, Part C, 6, 7, 8, belo7v. 



ILLINOIS ODD-FELLOWS' CODE, 253 

Division V. Balloting. 

1. Is had on every proposition, when report is presented, 

396, 403- 

2. Essential to election or rejection, 404. 

3. Ballot is on each proposition separately, 402. 

4. Must be secret, no one. showing or telling his vote, 407. 

5. Ballot is closed when N.G. so declares, 11 16. 

6. Ballot-box passed by Warden to V.G., who inspects bal- 
lot; then to N.G., who inspects it, and declares candidate 
elected or rejected, 405-6, not giving number of balls, 
405, 408. 

7. Three black balls reject; two do not, 405. 

8. After ballot, case may not be recommitted to the com- 
mittee, and new report and new ballot had, 408. (But 
see No. 10 of this Division.) 

9. If N.G. fears error, but in no other case, he may, before 
declaring result, order ballot taken again, 409. 

10. If illegality or fraud is charged upon the ballot, it may be 
declared void, and new one held, if none have left the 
room; otherwise, it may be voided and recommitted for 
a report next week, 409. 

11. But voidance of a ballot for illegality or fraud must be 
ordered by Lodge, not by N.G. ; new ballot must then be 
had, 410. 

12. Mere eri^ors in voting are not reason for voiding a reject- 
ing ballot, 410. 

13. If all who voted against a rejected candidate move a 
reconsideration of the ballot, the motion lies over one 
week, and is then acted on by ballot vote: if carried 
unanimously, the ballot on the proposition is held anew; 
if a single black ball is cast, then or on the reconsidera- 
tion, the candidate is rejected: all this must be done 
within four meeting nights next following the first rejec- 
tion, 411. 

14. Election of an unworthy person may, before he is ad- 
mitted, be annulled by vote of two-thirds of members 
present, 412; thus, too, election of one found to be 
diseased or injured so as to be ineligible, may be made 
void, 414. 

15. If a ballot is annulled [Cls. 10, 13, 14), the report is again 
before the Lodge for action: unless it is recommitted, 
ballot must then be had anew, 413. 



254 ILLINOIS ODD-FELLOWS' CODE. 

Division VI. Initiation. 

1. Takes place only in the Lodge which elects the candidate, 
420. 

2. Time not fixed by N.G., but by Lodge, which may for 
good cause postpone, but not thus entirely prevent, initia- 
tion, 421. 

3. May always occur on night of election, or at special 
meeting, 422. 

4. Conducted according to Ritual : no examination in the 
ante-room but that of the Ritual, 416; no alteration al- 
lowable, 416, 1 113. 

Observe, the law is very strict upon this point, forbidding all 
innovation. 

5. Includes signing constitution, 417, which may be done 
by candidate's mark, witnessed, 417. 

6. Completed by introduction to the Lodge, 423. 

7. Not to be made void for illegality, or for fraud of candi- 
date, 415. 

Division VII. Introduction. 

1. Necessary to complete admission by card, 417; no form 
prescribed, except that committee introduces, 418; Form 
18, in Appendix, suggested; examination as to A.T.P.W., 

416, and Div. II, Part C, CI. 3, above. 

2. Is occasion for signing constitution, which is necessary, 

417, 419. 

3. But admission by card is not voidable for irregularity or 
fraud, 415, and is valid if practically accepted and acted 
on by candidate, 417, 419. 

4. Admission on dismissal certificate, or as an Ancient Odd- 
Fellow, is to be consummated like admission on a regular 
card, by an introduction and a signing of the constitution, 
417. 

Division VIII. Rejection. 

I. Three black balls reject, 405, except 

(a) in reconsideration of ballot under Div. V, CI. 14, above., 
when one rejects. 

(b) in reinstatement after dropping, which requires a nia- 
jority on ballot, 777-780. 

(r) and in reinstatement after expulsion, which requires 
two-thirds of members present, 8 1 8. 



ILLINOIS ODD-FELLOWS' CODE. 255 

2. Cuts off application for initiation for six months : other 
applications renewable at any time, 424. 

3. Fee returned after rejection, 398. 

4. Card returned after rejection, 517, but must not be muti- 
lated, marked or indorsed with any word or words to 
show the rejection, 517. 

5. Notice sent to other Lodges in same place, 424. 

Division IX. Fees for Membership. 

1. Initiation not less than five dollars, 433. 

2. Admission by card not less than two dollars, 433. 

3. Ancient Odd-Fellow not less than five dollars, 433 ; on 
dismissal certificate, the same, 391, 433. 

4. Non-beneficial membership not less than five dollars, 433, 

5. All 77iust pay, ministers of the gospel and charter mem- 
bers not excepted, 414; nor is part or all of the fee to 
be returned, 440, 441. 

6. Fee must accompany proposition, 396, 397. 

7. Paid to Permanent Secretary and by him to Treasurer, 
442. 

8. Refunded in case of withdrawal of proposition or rejec- 
tion, 398 ; but forfeited if elected candidate, without 
good reason, fails to claim his membership within six 
weeks, 398. 

9. For reinstatement, must be paid previous to action, 429. 
(«) within one year from dropping, one year's dues, 

neither more nor less, 776, 777, 756. 

(b) after one year from dropping, the fee of an initiate of 
the same age, or less, but not less than one year's 
dues, 776, 778, 756. 

[c) within five years from dropping, withdrawal card to 
join another Lodge in Illinois asked at same time, 
one year's dues and price of a card, 776, 779, 756. 

{(i) as non-beneficial, not less than one year's dues, 776, 

779- 
(/?) The phrase ''one year's dues" means one year's 

weekly dues computed at the rate fixed by by-laws at 

time of reinstatement, 783. 
(y) After expulsion for offense, same fee as for initiate of 

same age, 813. 



256 ILLINOIS ODD-FELLOWS' CODE. 

Division X. Reinstatement. 

J^art A. After Suspension for Conduct Unbecoming. 

1. Occurs by expiry of sentence, without vote or formality, 
732. 

2. Time cannot be shortened except by Grand Lodge or 
Grand Master, 816. 

^wrt B. After Exptdsion for Offense. 

1. Must be in the expeUing Lodge, 812, 813, 818, or by its 
consent, 814, 815. 

2. On written application, 813. 

3. With fee, same as for initiate of same age, 813. 

4. Case referred to committee of three, who see that the 
applicant has reformed or made appropriate reparation or 
apology, 813. 

5. Lodge ballots on report and petition; two-thirds of mem- 
bers present needed to grant reinstatement, 813, 818. 

6. Secretary sends petition of Lodge to Grand Master, with 
statement of cause of expulsion, facts of Case, evidence 
of reformation, reparation or apology, 819, 820. (See 
Form 40, in Appendix.) 

7. Grand Master's grant of permission perfects the rein- 
statement, 813. 

8. No terms other than those fixed by law can be offered by 
either party, 818. 

9. Signing consdtution is not necessary, 821. 
10. Lost honors and privileges are regained, 822. 

J^avt C. After Dropping for N. P. D. (General laws, 756.) 

1. Persons suspended or expelled for N.P.D. before the 
dropping law of i860 are treated as if dropped, 782. 

2. An application is necessary in every case, which must be 
written, 777-780. 

3. The reinstating vote must be had, always majority on bal- 
lot, 777-780. 

4. Fees are stated, Div. IX, CI. 9, above. 

5. Coming within a year from dropping, application is read 
at three meetings and then acted on, 777. 

6. Coming more than a year from dropping, application goes 
to a committee and takes the course of a proposition for 
membership, 778. 



ILLINOIS ODD-FELLOWS' CODE. 257 

7. Coming within five years from dropping, and asking with- 
drawal card to rejoin in IHinois, petition may be acted on 
at once, or goes to committee, like preceding, 780. 

8. Asking non-beneficial membership, application gives age, 
occupation and residence, and takes course of proposition 
for membership, 779. (See Div. I, CI. 3, of this Practical 
Code.) 

9. A Lodge may not keep money sent with an application 
and refiise reinstatement, 784, nor reconsider and annul 
a reinstatement, 785. 

l^art D. From ReiJinant of Revived Lodge. 

1. If in good standing at defunction, brother not included in 
revival may come into the revived Lodge as Ancient Odd- 
Fellow, 394. 

2. If out of good standing by N.P.D., brother may be rein- 
stated by the revived Lodge like others under like 
disability, 394 ; Div. X, Part C, above. 

3. If out of good standing by offense, brother may be rein- 
stated by the Lodge and Grand Master, 394, under Div. 
X, Part B, above. 

Division XI. Loss of Membership. 

J^dvt A. By Resignation. 

1 . Brother may go out by written resignation, if clear of the 
books, 487, and under no charge, 538, 540. 

2. Lodge must accept resignation, unless there is known 
ground for charges, and these are preferred immediately, 

3. Only action needed is to enter fact on record, 541. 

4. Brother resigning is entitled to certificate, 539, 540, which 
must give the facts. (See form in 540.) 

5. Certificate is not voted, but given by officers, on request, 
540. 

6. If Lodge, on ballot, refuses withdrawal card to a brother, 
he may resign and demand certificate, 537, 539. 

7. A renunciation of the Order is not a resignation, 538. 
Tavt JB. By Taking Withdrawal Card. 

See Practical Code on Cards, Div. II, p. 260. 
Part C. By Course of Discipline. 
See Practical Code of Trials, Div. IX, p. 277. 
18 



258 ILLINOIS ODD-FELLOWS' CODE. 

l*avt D, By Dropping for N.P.D. 

1 . Prerequisites for dropping. 

{^a) Brother must be in arrears forone year's dues, 756-7-8, 
763 ; that is, all dues and assessments accruing in one 
year's tiine^ and not some special amount, 763 ; 
allowance to be made for unpaid benefits, 769, 563. 

{b^ Brother must have been properly notified, 297, 757, 
758, 763, that he is eleven months in arrears and 
liable to be dropped, 757, 766, 767. 

(<:) But Lodge must receive a member's dues at any time, 
in full or in part, when offered prior to dropping, 
761 ; this will require renewal of notification when 
eleven months' dues accrue again, 766 ; payment may 
be made between meetings, 446 ; and if absence or 
error of Permanent Secretary is cause of arrears, the 
rights of a brother are not prejudiced thereby, 447, 
770. 

2. Procedure in dropping. 

[a) Dropping may be had at regular or special meeting, 

760. 
{b) Permanent Secretary, from time to time, reports to 

Noble Grand names of notified brothers one year in 

arrears, 757, 760, 766. 
(<:) Noble Grand declares them dropped, 757, 758, 760, 

unless Lodge orders otherwise, 760, 766. 
(</) Ballot is not required, 759, 502. 

T^art JE. By Dismissal Certificate. 

1. Form of it, 773. 

2. Granted without vote, upon written application and pay- 
ment of one dollar, 756, 772. 

3. Granted thus to these : 

{a) to a brother dropped five years who asks it in order 

to join a Lodge in Illinois, 756, 772. 
(b^ to any dropped brother who asks it to join a Lodge in 

another jurisdiction, 756, 772. 
[c) to any dropped brother to whom reinstatement has 

been refused, 756, 772. 

4. Granted, at option of Lodge, by majority of members 
present, to any dropped brother who wishes to join a 
Lodge in Illinois, 772, 756. 

5. May not be refused to any one entitled to it, 500. 



ILLINOIS ODD-FELLOWS' CODE. 259 

Practical Code No. II.— Of Cards and Visiting. 

Division I. Cards Generally, 482. 

1. Forms are prescribed by S.G.L., 483; none legally used 
but diose printed by S.G.L., 1043. 

2. Cards granted only to members in good standing, free 
from charges of offense or legal complaint (Trial Code, 
Div. II), and from dues of all kinds, 484, 487. 

3. Granted by vote of open Lodge, not by officers, 500. 

4. Not to be withheld by Secretary when granted, except for 
the card fee, 496. 

5. Signed by Noble Grand and Secretary, 483; pro-tem. 
Secretary signs, 292. 

6. Holder of card writes his name on it in presence of officer 
that gives him A.T.P.W., 483. 

7. A.T.P.W. given with every card, 824, 834, or an order 
for it, 835, which order is given without vote, 837 ; the 
A.T.P.W. given by any Noble Grand when the order is 
properly presented, 836, and given again if forgotten, 839. 

8. Rank of holder is entered in the card, 483, that is, his 
rank in the Lodge or Grand Lodge, but not in the Patri- 
archal Order on a card given by a Lodge, 521 ; but !ank 
as G. R. or P.G.R. from either branch is entered, 521. 

9. Card is only pj^ima-facie evidence of membership and 
rank, 522 : holder should be otherwise tested, 522 : but 
if the card calls him P.G., he is to be received as such 
without a P.O.D., 522. 

10. Holder has right to visit Lodges during currency of card, 

503. 

11. Holder is responsible to Lodge for good conduct, 503, 
and subject to all laws, 503, including changes of rates of 
dues or benefits, 437, 438, 553. [But Lodge paying. bene- 
fits on card must be repaid whatever the card calls for.] 

12. Incomplete or erroneous card is returned to holder, with 
remark " It is informal," 523. 

13. A defective card returned to holder and brought back by 
him corrected is presumed to be legally corrected, 524. 

14. Lodge may not issue a letter of recommendation with or in 
place of a card, 514. 

15. An Encampment card cannot be used in a Lodge, and 
vice versa, 519. 



260 ILLINOIS ODD-FELLOWS' CODE. 

Division II. Withdrawal Cards. 
Tart A. Effect of Taking, and Use. 

1. Withdrawal card ends membership in Lodge, but not in 
Order, 482, 487, 361 : all claims on Lodge are ended by 
the vote granting the card, whether it be made out and 
taken or not, 497, 503 ; and all claims on the Order except 
right to visit for a year, and to offer card on deposit, 503 : 
right to benefits cannot be continued by paying dues for 
time beyond the grant, 497, 557 : any dues paid in advance 
to be refunded, 497. 

2. Withdrawal card used for visiting for one year only, 503, 
512, 519, and for joining Lodge by deposit, 503 : does not 
become invalid if Lodge issuing becomes defunct, 508. 

3. Withdrawal card is valid evidence of former membership, 
after expiration, 512. (See Code of Membership, Div. II, 
Part D.) 

4. If lost, duplicate or certificate of grant may be given, 513. 

5. Is property of holder; must not be mutilated when de- 
posited, 517, but must be returned if membership is not 
consummated, 517, without indorsement of rejection. 

Tart B. Application and Gra7tt. 

1. Qualifications, see in Div. I, CI. 2. 

2. Application must be in person or in writing, 488. 

3. Superfluous language or illegal condition in the applica- 
tion does not affect validity of card, 495. 

4. Application need not be renewed if not acted on at once, 
493 ; lies over one week, 488, except 

{a) when applicant has moved away. 

[b) or is going to move before next meeting. 

[c) or is going to join petition for new Lodge. 

5. Letter to P.S. with money is legal application, 492. 

6. N.G. must refuse to entertain application, if complaint has 
been deposited, 499, or if applicant has been tried and 
acquitted, but appeal against acquittal is entered, 491. 

7. Withdraw^al card should not be granted 

{a) if there is reason to refuse a visiting card, 484. 

[b) or if application is not legal in form, but by proxy; 

brother may accept or refuse card so granted, 492. 
(t-) or if dues and price of card are not paid before vote^ 

the grant is illegal and void, 494. 



1 



ILLINOIS ODD-FELLOWS' CODE. 261 

(d^ or if applicant has not signed constitution, 486, unless 
he has actually accepted membership and acted as 
member, 486. 

iye) or if he is a financial officer and has not settled ac- 
count with the Lodge, 510 ; but debt for money loaned 
on security is no reason for refusal, 485. 

(y) or if, between application and vote, information on 
charges be brought, 498. 

8. Application may be withdrawn at any time before vote, 
500. 

9. Withdrawal card must, on application, be granted or 
refused on ballot, 484, 490. 

10. Vote is by ballot; majority grants withdrawal card, 488, 
489, 490. 

11. Appeal may be taken against refusal of card, 537; but 
resignation may be offered by the applicant, (^e Code 
of Membership, Div. XI, Part A, CI. 6.) 

12. Grant of withdrawal card not to be rescinded, 489, unless 
illegal, 494 ; but the card may be annulled, 5 1 5, if charges 
are brought, 657. Or it may be surrendered, which is a 
resignation, 516, or demanded by the Lodge, 516, which 
is annulment. 

Division III. Visiting Cards. 

1. May be granted at special meeting, 504. 

2. May be granted by consent, without formal vote, 502. 

3. Granted, of course, to any brother asidng, 504; does not 
interfere with holding office, or affect any other right, 510. 

4. Requires payment of dues in advance for term of card, 
449; Secretary, exempt from dues, must pay in advance, 
and have dues refunded if he serves, 450. 

5. Not to be made out till paid for, 504. * 

6. Has time of currency, fixed at option of Lodge, expressed 
on its face, 503, 506; time may not be extended by in- 
dorsement or otherwise, 507. 

7. Not revocable, except in case of misconduct, 505. 

8. Becomes invalid if Lodge becomes defunct, 508. 

9. Entitles holder to courtesies, visiting and pecuniary assist- 
ance according to law, 503. 

10. May not be refused to brother in hazardous occupation or 
journey, 484. 

1 1 . May be indorsed with a disqualification as to benefits, 511. 



262 ILLINOIS ODD- FELLOWS' CODE. 

Division IV. Grand Officers' Card. 

1. This is a card granted by Grand Master and Grand Secre- 
tary to a member of a defunct Lodge, 509, 1065 ; the 
Lodge must have surrendered its charter and effects, and 
not merely have failed to meet, 1065, 1066; but if Lodge 
was suspended or expelled, special vote of G.L. must 
grant card, 1067. 

2. Card may be granted in case of loss or destruction of 
books, 1069. 

3. Applicant must show he is worthy, 1065, 1068, 1070. 

4. He must pay arrears of dues, or one year's dues, 1065, 
1067, 1070, 107 1, and a fee of one dollar, 1068. 

This law is interpreted to mean that the fee of one dollar is ac- 
cepted as a clearance of all arrearages due, so that this clause 
should read, or a fee of one dollar. Such is not, however, the 
language of the law. 

5. The card has the effect and validity of a withdraM^al 
card, 509, 756, 1065, 1067, 1069, and holder must have 
A.T.P.W., 756, 840, for which an order may*be given by 
the Grand Secretary, 840. 

6. No form for it is prescribed; each Grand Body may 
adopt a form, 509. 

Division V. Dismissal Certificate. 

This is not a card : the holder may deposit for member- 
ship, but may not visit with it, 542 ; does not have the 
A.T.P.W. with it, 774, 834; it may be received with 
petition for charter, 168, 170; it is granted under 501, 
756, 772. (See Practical Code of Membership, Div. XI, 
Part E. Form given, 773.) 

Division VI. Ladies' Cards. 

I. For any Wife or Widow. — Form prescribed by S.G.L., 
518, given in Appendix, Form 21; maybe granted by 
two-thirds vote of Lodge, on application, signed by 
officers, countersigned on margin by recipient, 518. Not 
current for more than one year, if given wife; current 
during widowhood, if given widow, 518. 

Blanks have been kept by G. Sec. G. L. Illinois : form may be 
written out by Secretary of Lodge. The signing by the recipient 
should be carefully attended to, so that the card may not fall into 
improper hands. 



ILLINOIS ODD-FELLOWS' CODE. 263 

2. For any lady having Rebekah Degree, not ineitiber of 
R.D. Lodge. — Form adopted by G. L. Illinois, and one 
recommended by the S.G.L. a year later, given in Appen- 
dix, Form 22. The former has been kept by the Grand 
Secretary of Illinois ; but when called for, any Secretary 
may write one out. There is no law as to the time of 
currency of the S.G.L. form, nor as to the vote granting it. 

3. For members of Rebekah- Degree Lodges. — Visiting and 
withdrawal cards for members of R.D. Lodges are issued 
by the S.G.L., and sold like other cards : the visiting 
card for ladies only, the withdrawal card for either 
sex : forms in Appendix, Forms 23, 24. This may not be 
made out entirely by Secretary ; the regular blank must be 
used. The withdrawal card is granted on ballot vote by 
majority, on personal or written application, 896;, may 
be used to join R.D.L., 896. With both the visiting and 
the withdrawal card the A.P.W. D. of R. is used, 893. 

Division VII. Visiting. 

The word visit is not properly used to denote a brother's 
entrance into his own Lodge, though it is often so used in the Journals 
and hence in this book : a brother attends his own Grand or^Subor- 
dinate Lodge : he visits one not his own. The distinction is drawn 
by the Grand Sire, Bro. Harmon, in 1880, when, interpreting Sov. 
By-Law XXIV, he says : '' The word visiting in that article 
refers to a visitor in the technical sense." Sov. '^■210. 

1. Brother visits a Lodge in his own jurisdiction by the term 
P.W., etc., as he would enter his own Lodge, without 
ceremony, 519. (See Ritual.) 

2. If he has not the term P.W., he may visit by card and 
A.T.P.W., 834, 527- . 

3. Holder of withdrawal card visits his own former Lodge 
in form, 528; cannot be admitted otherwise, even if card 
has not been delivered to him, 528. 

4. No person disqualified for legal membership (as negro, 
etc.,) can visit, however regular his card, 543. But other- 
wise, no person presenting proper card can be refused, 530. 

5. But a Lodge may protect itself from disorder, want of 
decorum, and violation of propriety, 530, 531. 

6. No visitor, except as in clauses i, above, and 15 and 17 
below, can be admitted without both card and A.T.P.W., 
527 ; and if he has card dated in one year and A.T.P.W. 
of another year, he must not be admitted, 524. 



264 ILLINOIS ODD-FELLOWS' CODE. 

7. No brother may vouch for another, 527, except as in 
clauses 15 and 17, belozv. 

8. A brother may not be examined and admitted before 
Lodge is opened, 526. 

9. No test oath or O.B.N, may be used in examination, 529. 

10. But any legal examination may be used, 527. 

11. Regular course of examination and introduction of visitor 
(see in 520, or more fully in Ritual). Form 19, Appendix, 
may be used. 

12. Visitor receives regalia according to rank ; a P.G.'s 
regalia, if he claims it, 523 : he may wear Lodge or 
Encampment regalia, the highest to which he is entitled, 
926. 

13. Examination and introduction may be repeated at every 
visit, 525 : this is not necessary if the presiding officer 
inspects the card and sees that the brother has been ad- 
mitted before on the same card, and it is still current, 
525 : in such case, the brother may be present at opening 
also, 525. 

Observe, it is customary to have a formal introduction and visit 
indorsed on the card, to save the need of repeated examinations. 
There is no lau/ for this. 

14. A visitor (unless indecorous, CI. 5, above) may not be 
required to leave the Lodge, 532. 

15. An Elective Grand Officer may introduce visitors without 
examination in his own jurisdiction, 535 : a G. Rep. of 
either G.L. or G.E. may introduce into either Lodge or 
Encampment in his own state, 535. 

16. Persons entitled to " Honors of the Order" are received 
therewith when introduced by Committee or Grand Offi- 
cer, according to the Ritiial^ 535. 

17. A Lodge may visit a sister Lodge in a body, being intro- 
duced by its N.G. or V.G. as a Grand Officer introduces, 
533 : the introducing officer must be known as such, and 
be examined if necessary, 534, having card and A.T.P.W., 
if out of his jurisdiction, 533. 

18. A visiting Lodge is not received with the " Honors," 
536. 



ILLINOIS ODD-FELLOWS' CODE. 265 



Practical Code No. III.— Of Benefits and Relief. 

Division I. Benefits, Generally. 

1. Lodge determines amount, under laws of G.L., 545. 

2. Some rates must be fixed in the by-laws, 546, for payment 
of which dues and taxes must be laid by Lodge, 461 ; 
changes in rates affect all alike, 553. 

3. Given to members of every degree, 549, irrespective of 
poverty or wealth, 546, and in spite of any bargain not to 
claim them, made as condition of initiation, 364. 

4. But not given to a non-beneficiary, 598, nor to holder of 
withdrawal card, 557, nor in any case contrary to law or 
not provided by law, 554. 

l^S" Detail of cases in which Lodge must not refuse benefits, 565 ; 
detail of sundry cases in which it must not grant them, 564. 

5. Visiting Committee reports on benefits due, 603, 1027. 

6. Evidence of claim to be furnished if brother is sick or 
dies away from Lodge, 570, 579, 580. 

7. Payable only to family and not to creditors, assignees, 
"legal representatives," remote relatives, etc., 585, 587, 

589, 599. 

8. To be paid when found to be due, if withheld by error, 
567; not kept back in case of appeal against allowance 
of them, tinless there is a stay of proceedings by the 
Deputy, 575. 

9. If refused, party claiming must appeal in due time, three 
months, or lose right to appeal, 576, 577. 

If a Lodge refuses the benefits claimed by a brother, he should 
present to the Lodge a definite claim in the following form : 

[June 15, 1882.] 

To Lodge, No. —, I. O. O.F. : 

Brothers : I hereby notify you that I claim benefits for sickness 
from [date] to [date], amounting to $ — . [Signed] 

Thereupon the Lodge should set time for hearing on such claim, 
not less than one week after it is presented, at which time evidence 
may be introduced for and against such claim, and the Lodge should 
vote on the payment thereof. If the Lodge still refuse the claim, 
the brother may appeal, under the law. Sec. 791, clause 2, and the 
Grand Master or Grand Lodge will decide on the record sent up. 

10. When paying benefits, a Lodge must take care that a 
brother does not fall into arrears; it must deduct his 
arrears of dues from his benefits, 563. 



266 ILLINOIS ODD-FELLOWS' CODE. 

Division II. Who is Beneficiary. 

Beneficiary means one actually entitled to benefits if taken sick : 
Be7ieficial, one who is beneficiary or who may legally become such ; 
opposed to non-beneficial , 548, note. 

1. A brother is beneficiary [a) if not under charges, 548 
[charges may suspend \ii?, right, 735]; {b) if not fourteen . 
weeks in arrears, 548, 560; (c) if not suspended for 
cause, 548; [d) and if not disquahfied under by-laws 
because of previous arrears for fourteen weeks or more, 548. 

Provided (i) he has been a member of the Lodge six 
months or more by initiation, reinstatement, or as an 
Ancient Odd-Fellow, 548 ; 

(2) or has been a member of the Order six months, 
joining this Lodge by unexpired card, 548. 

2. He does not become beneficiary for any sickness by pay- 
ing up after the sickness begins, 561. 

3. He is beneficiary if unpaid benefits from former sickness 
cover apparently disqualifying arrears, 563. 

Division III. Weekly Benefits, for sickness or disability, 
547. 

1. Characteristic of the Order, 544; not to be nominal, 544; 
nor dependent on attendance, 549 ; cannot be suspended, 
546, 551, 552, 555. 

2. Not less than two dollars to any brother, 547, 549, but 
must be at least three dollars to member of Third Degree, 
547 : no half-benefits legal if they go below these rates, 
556. (See Div. I, 3.) 

3. Rate may be lowered after certain period of granting^ or 
after a certain amount has been paid, 550. (See Div. I, 2.) 

4. Not estimated by workmg days, nor paid for fraction of 
week, 555; and if a brother is sick on any day, even 
only a part of the day, that day is counted, 555. 

Thus, if a brother is taken sick on the evening of Monday, and 
gets well during the next Sunday, both the Monday and the Sunday 
are counted, making a full week, though he was sick only five whole 
days and parts of two others, one before and the other after the five. 

5. Due to any one beneficiary (Div. II) when taken sick, 
559j or becoming beneficiary while sick, 562. 

6. Not due (if by-laws so provide) to one who fails to send 
notice of sickness, if practicable, to Lodge, or officers, or 
visiting committee, 571, 572, 573. 



ILLINOIS ODD-FELLOWS' CODE. 267 

7. Payable to traveling brother on card, and how, ^66, 579, 

8. Reported to Lodge (as to amount) by Visiting Committee, 
603, 1027. 

9. May be paid to wife, if she is member of the family, 574. 
(Div. I, CI. 6.) 

10. May be declined, which is final donation to Lodge, 558. 

Division IV. Funeral Benefit. 

1. Paid on death of every iinsuspended member, 583, but not 
for a non-beneficial, 596, nor for death of a wife, 592. 
(Div. VIII, CI. 2.) 

2. Minimum is twenty dollars, 583 ; sliding scale is legal, 584. 

3. Goes always to family or dependent relatives of deceased, 
585, 587, 599 ; never to creditors, remote relatives, or 
"legal representatives," as such, 599; not subject to 
devise, will or assignment, 589. 

4. But may, with consent of family, and not otherwise, go 
toward funeral expenses, 583, 586. 

5. May be withheld on proof of fraud, or of death caused 
by vice, 590. 

6. Not to be made by dividing funds, 600; but^ special 
funeral benefit may be made by assessment, 462. 

7. Paid from general fund, if no special fund is provided, 
466. 

Division V. Funeral Expenses, defined and explained, 

588. 

1. Distinct from funeral benefit, 585; payable only for 
actual expense, 585. 

2. Must be allowed in addition to funeral benefit, 583, 586, 

588. 

3. Not due when family refuses services of Lodge, 594, or 
deceased renounced the Order, 564 (6). 

4. Nor when Lodge is set aside in the arrangements for the 
funeral, 594. 

Division VI. Sickness, such defect of health or such dis- 
ability as keeps one from business, 601 [See 564 (3),, 

(4)]. 

I. Ability to do some work may or may not be inconsistent, 
with sickness that calls for benefits, 601, 602. 



268 ILLINOIS ODD-FELLOWS' CODE, 

2. Blindness caused by disease or accident may be legal sick- 
ness, 60 1. 

3. Lodge is best judge- of occurrence of sickness, 602. 

4. Visiting Committee have charge of sick, of their own or 
other Lodge, 603. 

Division VH. Watching Service. 

1. Cared for by Visiting Committee, 603. 

2. Due to all, even those in arrears, 544, 604, and to non- 
beneficial, 607. 

3. Due to traveling brother or one from other Lodge, 578. 
(But see CI. 5, below.) 

4. Must be rendered upon notice by any brother (practising 
physician may be exempt), 606. 

5. Watchers may be hired, 604, and assessment laid to pay 
for them, 604, 432, 456 (5). But a Lodge may not hire 
watchers for a transient brother and charge the expense to 
his Lodge, unless the by-laws of his Lodge warrant such 
expenditure, 578. 

Division VIII. Charitable Donations, And Relief. 

1. May be given within the Order from general fund, 454, 
455, 456 (4), 468, 554; should be given in case of special 
destitution, 605. 

2. May be given to needy brother on death of wife, 592. 

3. If given to brother of another Lodge, they constitute no 
claim against his Lodge, 581, 582. 

4. May be given outside the Order only from special fund 
created for the purpose, 458 (3), 593, 598. 

Division IX. Widows and Orphans. 

1. In special care of Trustees, 1016. 

2. Are beneficiaries for the funeral benefit, 599. 

3. Appropriations for widows and orphans are not called 
benefits, 595, and no regular rate is fixed, 595. 

4. Widow of suspended brother, or dropped, or non-bene- 
ficial, has no claim to allowance or donation, 598. 

5. Widows and Orphans' Fund is not obligatory, 471; if 
created, not to be merged, 471, except on certain condi- 
tions, 472. 

6. Lodge is not free of care for orphans because of mother's 
interference, 597. 



ILLINOIS ODD-FELLOWS' CODE. 269 

Practical Code No. IV.— Elections and Appointments ; in- 
cluding Officers, Representative, Trustees and Com- 
mittees. 

Division I. Places to be Filled. 
l^art A. By Election. 

1. These Lodge officers: Noble Grand, Vice Grand, Secre- 
tary, Permanent Secretary, Treasurer, 222. 

2. Representative to Grand Lodge, 75, who is not an officer, 
227. 

3. Trustees, five, who are not officers, 1016-17-18. 

4. Any Committee a Lodge may choose to elect. 

Tart B . By AppoinUiient of N. G. 01' V. G. 

1. These Lodge officers: Warden, Conductor, Outside 
Guardian, Inside Guardian ; the six Supporters, viz : 
R. and L. to Noble Grand, R. and L. to Vice Grand, 
and Scene Supporters, R. and L. Also, at option of 
Lodge, a Chaplain, 222, 223. 

2. Committees. 

[a) Standing, Sub. Const,, Art. IV: Code, Sec.^ 1015. 
Visiting, 603; Finance, 1025; and any others created 
by by-laws of Lodge, 1015 ; Trustees, a Standing 
Committee, are elected, not appointed, 1016. 

{b) Special. 

1 . To introduce visitors, appointed by Noble Grand ; 
Pi^actical Code, Cards, etc. 

2. In trials, prosecuting, and to take testimony, both 
appointed by Noble Grand only. (See Practical 
Code, Trials, Divs. Ill, IV.) 

3. Investigating, on proposition, two by Noble Grand, 
one by Vice Grand. (See Practical Code, Mem- 
bership.) 

4. Any others ordered by Lodge; appointed by both 
Noble Grand and Vice Grand jointly, unless 
Lodge orders Noble Grand only to appoint. 

Tart C. Pro/zibitions on Election or Appointmejit, 

I . No other officers to be created : Degree Master, Physician, 

Steward, Room Warden, Host, or Janitor, are not officers 

of Lodge, 224, 225. 



270 ILLINOIS ODD-FELLOWS' CODE. 

2. Past Grand is not an officer, elected or appointed; rank 
gained by service, and installation of successor, 227, 319; 
may sit two terms, 228. 

3. Grand Lodge may not elect or appoint officer of a Lodge, 
226. 

4. Lodge may not compel brother to accept office, 229. 

5. Lodge suspended or expelled may not elect or appoint 
officers, 241. 

6. Officers are not to be elected in any Lodge when those in 
office have not made a term ; that is, have not served the 
last fourteen weeks of a term^ 238, or filled vacancies to 
make a term, 2.61. 

7. Reelection must be had when Lodge wishes an officer to 
be his own successor, 231. 

8. If an ineligible person is chosen, the election is void, and 
must be held anew, 255. 

Division IL Eligibility: Qualification and Disquali- 
fication. 

Tart A.. Eligihiliiy , Gene7'ally. 

1. All officers must be of the working degree of the Lodge, 
244 ; and must at election be free of charges of miscon- 
duct, Riiual. 

2. No qualifications are prescribed for members of commit- 
tees. 

3. No restriction on reelection or reappointment, 242. 

4. One who holds office may be elected to another office, 246. 

5. Persons who are akin may hold office at same time, 243. 

6. Loss of the right hand is not a disqualification, even for 
N.G., 249. 

7. A person is not eligible to fill his own term when he has 
been removed from office for neglect or absence, and his 
successor has resigned, 261, note. 

8. A brother carries honors and eligibility when he passes 
from one Lodge to another with proof of service, and a 
P.O. Degree is legal proof, 318. 

9. Lodges may not make rules on eligibility, 229. 

10. Brother is eligible, if at time of induction into office he is 
qualified, 245, except for Representative, 245. (See Part 
B, Cls. 2, 4.) 



ILLINOIS ODD-FELLOWS' CODE. 271 

Tavt B. Eligibility of Elective Officers, etc. 

1. All elective officers must be free of arrears at installation, 
246, and must have the Rebekah Degree, 247-8, 255. 

2. Noble Grand must be a Past Grand or Past V.G., 249, un- 
less none such will accept the office ; then, only, any mem- 
ber may be elected, on dispensation, 250, 251 ; a V.G. who 
has not filled his chair for fourteen nights, because pre- 
vented by sickness, may be chosen N.G., 253, but not one 
whose absence was negligent, 253 : a sitting V.G. is 
eligible, if his service will be sufficient at close of the 
term; he may be N.G. of next term, 245: brother's 
service as N.G. may have been in other Lodge, 252, 
(See Part A, CI. 8, above,) 

3. V.G. must have served one term in some inferior office, 
249, 251, other than Chaplain, 223, 249; no other quali- 
fication but such service may be required, 249; service 
for six months as Permanent Secretary qualifies, 254; 
if all qualified by service refuse, any member may be 
chosen on dispensation, 250, 251. 

4. Representative must, at time of election, be a member of 
the Lodge that chooses him, 77, and a Past Grand, 76, 
245, 319. [This is an exception to the rule of Part A, 
CI. 10, above.'\ 

5. No elective officer (the Representative or Deputy is not 
an officer, 227) should be chosen Trustee, if others suit- 
able can be had, 1018. 

Tart C. Eligibility of Appointive Officers. 

1. They must at installation be in good standing, 246. 

2. Warden must have Rebekah Degree before installation, 
248. 

3. O.G. must be member of the Lodge, 224, and have Re- 
bekah Degree, 248. 

4. No limit may be put by Lodge on discretion of appointing 
officer, 256; Lodge may not require Steward or Janitor 
to be made O.G., 229. 

Division III. Elections : Time and Course of Proceeding. 

IPavt A. Tiine of Elections, 

I. A regular meeting, never a special one, 229: election not 
legally to be postponed, 229 ; but if regular election is 
omitted, must be held at next regular meeting, 233. 



272 ILLINOIS ODD-FELLOWS' CODE. 

2. Regular election of officers, first meetings of June and 
December, 233 ; of Trustees, with officers, in December. 

3. Representative, chosen immediately after installation in 
July, 75. \^Observe, the word Jaituary, in Sec. 75, page 
21, of the Codey is an err or. '\ Even-numbered Lodges 
choose in even years and odd-numbered Lodges in odd 
years, 73. 

4. Vacancies, see Div. V, below. 
Bart JB. Nominations. 

1. Made one week before election, and just before voting on 
each office, 230. 

2. Absent brother may be nominated, 232 : brother »may de- 
cline ; to do so, he must rise and be recognized by the 
Chair, and state that he declines, 232. 

Part C. Voting. 

1 . May be (not must be) by acclamation, if there is but one 
candidate, 234 : some one in such case moves that the 
candidate be elected by acclamation ; if this motion pre- 
vails by usual voting sign, he is elected, 237. 

A ballot may be had when there is but a single candidate in 
nomination: the Jour. S.G.L., p. 8534, gives a case of this sort 
in which a ballot was had ; one vote was cast for the nominee, and 
there were several blanks : he was not elected, as he did not have a 
majority of votes cast. — See Cls. 2, 3, below. 

2. Elections are by written [or printed] ballot, 234 ; blanks 
are counted, 234, and votes for persons out of nomina- 
tion are blanks, 234 : votes for a nominee who has not 
declined in proper form (Part B, CI. 2) are to be counted, 
232. (See note to preceding clause.) 

3. A majority of votes cast is necessary to elect, 234; but 
Trustees are chosen by plurality of votes, 1016. 

4. In case of tie, the election must not be decided by lot, 
229 ; the N.G. must call for nominations, and another 
ballot is had, 236 : if the tie be on election for Trustees, 
only so many are voted for on the next ballot as were tied 
before, 1019 ; not the whole five, unless all five were tied, 
1019. 

5. Before each ballot, the Secretary announces the names in 
nomination, 235. 

6. At each successive ballot, the name having the smallest 
vote in the preceding ballot is dropped from nomination, 
234. 



ILLINOIS ODD-FELLOWS' CODE. 273 

7. Candidates may not be required to retire to the ante-room 
during a ballot, 229. 

8. If the N.G. and V.G. are both absent, a P.G. must be 
chosen to preside, 289 : no mode of choosing is pre- 
scribed; the members present should pursue the ordi- 
nary parliamentary proceeding (Robert's Rules of Order, 
Sec. 46) : some brother steps upon the platform and calls 
for order, and nominates a P.G. for temporary N.G., and 
puts his motion to Vote : if it is not carried, he calls for 
nominations, and puts these to vote till some one is 
chosen. 

Division IV. Appointments. 
Tart A^. Regular Appointnieiits. 

1. The N.G. appoints all appointive officers (Div. I, Part 
B, CI. i), except the Supporters of the V.G. 

2. The N.G. alone appoints the Finance Committee, 1025, 
and these special committees: to introduce visitors, 520; 
the prosecuting and testimony committees in trials, 639, 
656; and all special committees the appointment of 
of which is, by the by-laws or resolutions of the Lodge, 
assigned to him alone. 

3. The V.G. alone appoints his own Supporters, 239; and a 
prosecuting committee, in case of complaint against the 
N.G., 647, 648. 

4. The N.G. appoints the majority and the V.G. the mi- 
nority of all committees not otherwise provided for, 273, 

287- 

5. The \ .G. may not make permanent appointments of 
officers in the absence of the N.G. elect at installation, 
240. 

6. If the Lodge should, when the N.G. is absent, order the 
appointment of a Chaplain, 222, the acting N.G. makes 
a permanent appointment, 240. 

7. Appointments of officers are made at the installation of 
the appointing officer, and not before, 239 and Ritual. 

8. The Finance Committee is appointed on installation night, 
1025 ; other committees, as occasions arise or the by-laws 
require. 

19 



274 ILLINOIS ODD-FELLOWS' CODE, 

Tart JB. Pro- Tempore Appointments. 

1. The presiding officer makes pro-tem. appointments as 
need arises, 256 ; even a temporary member of a standing 
committee on finance, 1026. 

2. The V.G. pro tem. may appoint his Supporters /r^ tern,, if 
the regular Supporters are absent, 256. 

3. To appoint a pro-tem. N.G., 'in absence of N.G. and 
V.G., see Div. Ill, Part C, CI. %, above. 

Division V. Vacancies. 

1. Temporary vacancies deal with hy pro-tem. appointments, 
Div. IV, Part B, above. 

2. Vacancies in office and committees are filled in manner 
of former selection, 261, 1009; the V.G. should replace 
any officer or member appointed by him. 

3. Vacancy occurring at installation, during the presidency 
of the installing officer, is filled by election held by him, 
according to the Ritual, 257, 258. 

4. If there is a vacancy in the representation, the Lodge 
may elect a Representative one week after passing a reso- 
lution to do so, 78; but if the session of the Grand 
Lodge is too near to allow delay, it may elect at once, 78. 



Practical Code No. V.— Of Trials. 

Division I. The Jurisdiction of the Lodge. 

1. Is over all its members, 609. 

2. All who have taken withdrawal cards, so long as the* 
card is current, 616. 

3. Any member who has joined by card, for any offense he 
committed after becoming an Odd-Fellow, 614. 

4. Dropped and suspended members, 617, 732. 

Division II. Information (or complaint, or accusation, 642). 

1. May be filed in writing, 642, by any member (even if 
under charges, 645). Form 31, Appendix. 

{a) Secretly, with the N.G., 639. 

(b) or openly, read in open Lodge, 646. 

2. May be against the N.G., filed with V.G., 647, 648. 

3. May be filed by holder of current withdrawal card, 644. 



ILLINOIS ODD-FELLOWS' CODE. 275 

4. May be filed against member of other Lodge 
(a) by the Lodge, 646. 

(<^) or by a member of the Lodge, 646. 

5. Contains statement of offense, names of witnesses, and 
signature of complainant, 642. 

6. May not be withdrawn unless found false, 645. 

7. Not used in cases of official misconduct, 724. 

Division IIL Prosecuting Committee. 

1. Appointed by N.G., 639, or V.G., 647, 648. 
[a) special, of three members, 639. 

(<^) but not including complainant, 650. 
(r) nor N.G., 651, nor V.G., note to 651. 

2. Examines the information, 639. 

i^a) Makes final report on a secret information to N.G. 

privately and not to Lodge, if they find there is not 

ground for charges, 654, 655. 
(^) or reports charges to Lodge at regular meetmg, 666. 

3. Conducts trial on behalf of Lodge, 639. 

4. May employ counsel, 653. 

5. Causes witnesses for Lodge to be summoned, 674. > 

6. May withdraw charges, 670. 

7. May revise them and present again if insufficient, 672. 

8. Follows the case if it goes to another Lodge, 712; only 
when the original Prosecuting Committee fails can the 
Lodge to which the case goes appoint a Prosecuting 
Committee, 712, 711. 

Division IV. Committee to take Evidence. 

1. One or more members of Third Degree, appointed by 
N.G., 656. 

2. Must not be the Prosecuting Committee, 673. 

3. Takes testimony (in presence of accused if he will attend, 
630, 656) of persons who cannot be introduced to the 
Lodge, 656; thus of persons not Odd-Fellows, 656; of 
women, including Daughters of Rebekah, 687 ; or Odd- 
Fellows who cannot attend trial, 711. (Forms for their 
use, Nos. 35, 36, 37, Appendix.) 



276 ILLINOIS ODD-FELLOWS' CODE. 

Division V. Charges. 

1. Prepared by Prosecuting Committee, 639. Form 32, 
Appendix. 

2. Must be clear, definite, giving dates, and places if possi- 
ble, and showing accused what he must answer to, 668 ; 
if calumny, slander, etc., are charged, must specify the 
bad language, 669. 

3. Must charge something which is an offense or conduct 
unbecoming-, 668, ^670. 

4. Read in open Lodge at regular meeting, 656* and entered 
in full on records, 668. 

5. Cause revocation of withdrawal card, if accused has one, 

657,515. 

6. Copy sent or delivered to accused by Secretary, 656. 

[a^ delivered personally if possible, with citation to ap- 
pear, 661, 662. Form '^i^'^^ Appendix. 

{b) sent with citation to last known place of abode, or put 
into post-office, 661, 662. 

7. May be objected to on trial and dismissed for insuffi- 
ciency, 670, 671, which ends the trial, 670. 

8. Mode of voting on charges, see Div. IX, Sees. 11, 12, 13, 
belozv. 

9. Open charges begin trial for official misconduct, 724. 

Division VI. The Noble Grand. 

1. Presides during trial, unless he is on trial, 648, 649. 

2. May not be on Prosecuting Committee, 651. 

3. Keeps secret the name of the informant, 643, but gives it 
up if the accusation is malicious, 641, 643. 

4. Decides on admissibility of testimony, 683. 

5. Takes and supervises the vote, Div. IX, Sees. Ii-I7> 
below. 

6. Declares penalty, Div. IX, Sec. 17, below. 

Division VII. The Secretary. 

1. Gives charges and citation personally to accused, or by 
mail, etc., in some cases, 656, 661, 662. Form 't^^)^ ^P" 
pendix. 

2. Cites witnesses of both sides, 656 (Forms 34, 35, Appen- 
dix) ; acts of temporary Secretary using seal to be recog- 
nized, 659. 



ILLINOIS ODD-FELLOWS' CODE. 277 

3. Records all proceedings fully, including evidence taken, 
692. 

4. Receives and forwards questions for depositions, 675. 

5. Takes share in trial, given Div. IX, Sees. 12,. 14, 21, 
below. 

6. Makes copies or abstracts in the case, or allows others to 
do so, he keeping charge of the books, 723. 

7. Keeps Black Book; enters suspensions or expulsions; 
gives notice to other Lodges, 725. 

Division VIII. The Accused. 

1. Is to have copy of charges and be cited for trial, 656, 
661, 662. 

2. To have witnesses summoned by Secretary, or depositions, 
656, 675. 

3. To have notice of time and place of taking outside 
testimony, 630, 656. 

4. Is guilty of contempt if he evades citation, or fails to 
answer to it, 660, 665. 

(a) but not if he answers by letter or counsel, or waives 
defense, 666, 667. 

[b) nor if absent from the taking of outside evidence, 

5. May have counsel, always an Odd-Fellow, 630, 636, 667; 
counsel must be assigned if he is absent from trial, 662. 

6. Must have access to records and papers, 722, and all 
opportunity to vindicate himself, 663. 

7. Must attend trial ; see Div. IX, below. 

8. May be witness in his own case, 684. 

9. His written defense may be made part of record, 722. 

Division IX. Trial Proper. 

1. Begins really when case is called and taking of evidence 
begins, 690. 

2. Held at regular meeting only, or special meeting then 
fixed, 656, 703 ; regularly two weeks from presentation 
of charges, 656. 

3. May be postponed on application of either party, as jus- 
tice or necessity requires, 630, 691. 

4. No brother may be excluded, 689, if of proper degree. 

5. Is held in highest degree accused has taken, 634. 



278 ILLINOIS ODD-FELLOWS' CODE. 

6. Cannot be carried on in absence of accused, 630, 662, 
667 : if absent, he may be expelled for contempt, 660. 

[a) trial is held if he waives appearance, or makes de- 
• fense in writing or by counsel, 666, 667. 

(b) or if he has absconded, or is incarcerated, or perma- 
nently absent, so that he cannot be found, 661, 662. 

7. Votes in trial are by voting sign and by ballot if in Third 
Degree, but otherwise in lower degree, 634, 699. 

8. All testimony of both sides heard ; rules of evidence admit 
anything really bearing on the case, at any stage of the case, 
692, 682, 677. (Form in taking testimony, No. 36, App.) 
[a) ex parte statements not accepted, 630, 676; but 

accused may testify, 684. 
[b^ nor a wife's testimony, except when he is accused of 

corporal injury to her, 685, 686. 
{c) nor hearsay evidence, 677, 686. 
{d) suspended member may be admitted to testify, 716. 

[e) record of civil or criminal court may be used, 678-9. 

[f) no need to separate evidence on different charges, 680. 

9. Oral testimony reduced to writing and recorded, 692. 

10. Arguments of the parties follow the testimony, 692; but 
members may not discuss the case, 694. 

11. The Noble Grand explains that a white ball sustains a 
charge or specification, votes guilty, or inflicts penalty ; a 
black ball is against charge, specification, conviction or 
penalty ; and ballot is ordered, 699, 700. 

12. Vote is taken; the first charge is read by the Secretary; 
then the specifications in order ; a vote is taken on each 
Specification as it is read; if all specifications under a 
charge are negatived, the charge fails, but a formal vote 
is taken on it; if one or more specifications under a 
charge are sustained, the vote is taken on the charge, 
which may fail, even if the specifications are sustained. 
The same course is taken on all charges, 693. 

13. To sustain a charge requires two-thirds of all members 
present who are entitled to vote, including the Noble 
Grand; all such must vote or be counted unless they 
leave the room, 692, 698. Only those are entitled to vote 
who are not too much in arrears, and wdio have heard all 
the evidence and arguments, being present from the be- 
ginning of taking evidence, 692. Error in vote, if 
announced in time, authorizes new ballot, 700, 701. 



ILLINOIS ODD-FELLOWS' CODE. 279 

14. If any charge is sustained even in part, the accused re- 
tires to the ante-room : some penalty must be imposed ; 
the same persons vote on penalty as voted before, 692, 
695, 697. The Secretary reads the charge sustained; the 
N.G., without motion, puts the question, " Shall the pen- 
alty be exDulsion ? " The mode of voting and the major- 
ity required is the same as before, 692, 695, 700. 

1.5. If expulsion fails, the vote is taken in the same way on 
suspension ; if this is rejected, the vote is had on repri- 
mand ; this failing, on fine. If all are rejected, the Lodge 
must renew its voting till a penalty is adopted, one pen- 
alty only for one trial ; fine is not allowed for violation of 
the principles of the Order, 692, 697, 728. 

16. If suspension is adopted, a motion must be made to fix 
the time, to which two amendments may be offered ; there 
must be no debate ; the Noble Grand puts first the longest 
time, then the next, and so on till some time is adopted ; 
a majority fixes the time, which must be as much as eight 
days and not over one year. If fine is adopted, the same 
course and vote settles the amount, 702. 

17. If the penalty is fixed by law without vote, the Noble 
Grand reads the law and declares the penalty : if alterna- 
tives are fixed, the Lodge chooses one by vote, 710. 

18. If the accused is not present, the Lodge may expel him 
for contempt, under Div. IX, Sec. 6, of this Practical 
Code. 

19. If the accused Qonfesses conduct unbecoming by self- 
accusation or plea of guilty, he may be sentenced at once 
without trial or evideiice, 704, 705, 706, 708. 

20. The sentence goes into effect and is enforced at once, 
unless there is an appeal or stay of proceedings, 730. 

21. Records must show all proceedings to be in good form, 
719, and citations duly issued, 720. 

Division X. Change of Venue. 

1. Three members (the accused may be one, 713) may pre- 
sent written opinion that the accused will not have an 
impartial trial; this goes with any evidence on the point 
to the Grand Master, who may order the trial to take 
place in another Lodge, 711. (Form 38, Appendix.) 

2. The change of venue may be asked in the interest of 
either party, and on charges of official misconduct, 713. 



280 ILLINOIS ODD-FELLOWS' CODE. 

3. The proceedings go to the point at which the taking of 
evidence is to begin, before the case is removed, 711. 

4. Evidence of those who cannot attend after the removal 
must be taken by the Committee on Testimony, 711, as in 
Div. IV, above. 

5. Complete copy of record and of all papers relating to the 
trial goes to the trying Lodge, 711. 

6. The trying Lodge hears the case as if it originated in 
itself; it returns copy of record of its action and register 
of evidence to the Lodge where the case began ; that 
Lodge records all matters which it has not already on 
record, 711. 

7. The trying Lodge need not take outside evidence or depo- 
sitions ; it cajls on the originating Lodge to do this, 715. 

8. Expenses of trial are to be borne by the Lodge where the 
case began, 726. 

Division XL Appeals. (See Chapter XXI, and Practical 
Code of Appeals^ 

1. May be taken to the Lodge from any decision of the 
Noble Grand during trial, 791, CI. 6, but not to a deputy, 
329, CI. 2. 

2. May be taken to the Grand Master or Grand Lodge at the 
close of the proceedings, but not before, 791, CI. 6. 

Division XII. Stay or Suspension of Penalty. 

I. May be ordered by the Lodge De4Duty, if appeal i^ taken, 
till the Grand Master decides the case, 329, CI. 2. 



Practical Code No. VI.— Of Appeals. 

Division I. Appeals to Grand Lodge or Grand Master. 
I*art A., Grounds of Appeal. 

1. Must be some error affecting result of a proceeding, 'j^']. 

2. May be the final decision of atrial, 791, Cls. i and 6, 792, 
but not any incidental decision of Lodge or Noble Grand, 
791, CI. 6. 

Under this may be brought any illegaHty, injustice or error oc- 
curring in the trial, if sufficient to affect the resuk, 791, CI. 3. See 
Part C of this Practical Code, note under Sec. i. An acquittal 
may be the error appealed against, 788, note ; 1003. 



ILLINOIS ODD-FELLOWS' CODE. 281 

3. May be the taking away of any right, honor, privilege or 
benefit, 791, CI. 2. A claim for refused benefits is under 
this. 

4. May be a decision of the Deputy for the Lodge, 791, CI. 5. 

J*avt B. The Appellant. 

1. May be the brother dropped, or condemned in a trial, or 
one who is both dropped and expelled, 791, CI. i ; 795. 

2. Or the brother deprived of a right, honor, privilege or 
benefit, 791, CI. 2. 

3. Or any three members, whether parties or not, who regard 
any proceedings of their Lodge in a discipline or griev- 
ance as unjust or illegal, 791, CI. 3. 

4. Any three members of a Lodge, against the result of a 
trial originating in their Lodge, but tried by another Lodge 
on change of venue, 793. 

5. A Lodge may -not appeal against the sentence given by 
another Lodge on change of venue, 793.- 

6. Two appeals from the same proceeding, but on different 
grounds, are to be united in one appeal : but the several 
appellants file their several notices, statements, argu- 
ments, etc., 791, CI. I. 

Vavt C, Course of Appeal. 

I. Within three months after the adverse decision or pro- 
ceeding against which appeal is taken, appellant files in 
Lodge a Notice of Appeal (Appendix of Forms, No. 39), 
in which he briefly sets forth his grounds of appeal in 
plain explicit language, alleging all errors of procedure, 
illegalities and injustice against which he appeals, 791, 
Cls. I and 4. (See Part A, above. ^ 

As the decision in the Grand Lodge or by the Grand Master must 
be upon the papers sent up and not on any material outside of them, 
this notice of appeal and of its grounds is very important. The law 
does not confine the Grand Master to the consideration of those 
errors only which are assigned in the appeal ; but the appellant must 
not presume that others will be sought out. Each case presents its 
own features, and the appellant must ascertain his own legal rights 
and assign infringements of them that may have affected the result 
(Part A, above). The following are suggested as most likely to occur 
in a trial : with each one the detailed facts must be given. 

I. Summons was not properly issued and served. 2. No copy of 
charges furnished. [These two points cannot be urged if the accused 
attends the trial, unless on account of them he claimed postpone- 
ment, which was refused.] 3. Expulsion for contempt was without 



282 ILLINOIS ODD-FELLOWS' CODE. 



due summons. 4. Trial was illegally held in absence of accused. 
5, Due time for preparation and getting evidence of remote wit- 
nesses was not allowed. 6. Summons for defendant's witnesses was 
refused, or neglected. 7. Depositions claimed were not taken. 8. 
Proper postponement denied ; adjournment denied when appellant or 
counsel was sick, or physically unable to proceed with case, or when 
trial extended past twelve o'clock Saturday night. 9. Legally quali- 
fied officer did not preside. [But see Sec. 285.] 10. Aid of counsel 
was denied, directly or indirectly. 11. Committee to take outside 
evidence was not legal. 12. Evidence was taken by said com- 
mittee illegally ; or, without due notice to parties. 13. Charges were 
vague. 14. What was charged was no offense. 15. Improper evi- 
dence was admitted. 16. Proper evidence was excluded. 17. No 
ballot was had on the specifications. 18, On one charge, no ballot was 
taken. 19. The mode of voting prescribed by law was not followed. 
23. Members voted who were not present during the entire trial, 

21. The conviction was not by a two-thirds vote of all legally present. 

22. The vote on penalty was not in legal order and manner. 23. 
Term of suspension was not determined by majority. 24. Findings 
are contrary to evidence, or not warranted by it. 25. Members of 
Lodge debated the case. 26, The penalty was too severe; or, not 
severe enough. 

The above-given points for an appellant will serve equally well in 
connection with the Practical Code of Trials, to show Lodges and 
their officers and committees what errors specially to avoid. 

If the appellant finds that there has been fraudulent addition to 
the record, or suppression or alteration of it, or that evidence taken 
was not recorded, he cannot present this in his notice of appeal, 
which is limited to the record : he must in such case complain direct- 
ly to the Grand Master and set forth the facts of such tampering with 
the records. He has the right, by himself, or else by counsel, to see 
the records and make abstracts of them, 722, 723 ; and any needless 
obstacles thrown in his way by a Secretary show ignorance, care- 
lessness or fraud. The Secretary will do well always to show the 
appellant or his counsel the appeal papers when he has them ready 
to send up. 

Whatever argument either party wishes to send may be sent with 
the appeal papers, or sent separately to the Grand Officers : the law 
does not recognize the argument as one of the necessary papers. 

How to appeal in claim for benefits, see in Practical Code of 
Benefits. The benefit having been denied, notice is filed, and the 
record, including evidence, made out and sent up. 

2. If the appeal is not taken in time, the right to appeal is 
lost, and cannot be revived, 797. 

3. The Lodge cannot prohibit appeal, nor impose any terms 
or conditions on appellant, 791, CI. 8. 

4. The Lodge must either assist the appellant to perfect the 
form of his appeal, or return it to him for correction, or 

send it as received : it may not refuse it for informality, 
and can have no advantage from its own neglect, 791, 
CI. 8. 



ILLINOIS ODD-FELLOWS' CODE. 283 

5.. The Lodge must, without delay, send to the Grand Sec- 
retary, under seal, the original notice of appeal, and 
certified copies of all records and papers relating to the 
case and under its control. The Lodge must enter the 
appeal notice upon its record, 791, CI. i ; 796. 

6. If the Grand Secretary returns the papers, or any part of 
them, for correction, the correction must be made and the 
papers sent up again, 791, CI. 7. 

7. All appeals to go before the Grand Lodge must reach the 
Grand vSecretary at least ten days before the session, 791, 
CI. 9. 

8. If the Lodge fails to send papers when an appeal is 
taken, the Grand Master or Grand Secretary may demand 
them ; and a Lodge is liable to punishment for neglect or 
refusal, 791, CI. 8. 

9. The Grand Secretary sends the completed appeal to the 
Grand Master, who examines and decides it; and his de- 
cision is final, unless appeal is taken from him to the 
Grand Lodge within one month from th'e reception of his 
decision by the Lodge, 791, CI. 7. 

10. An appeal from any action of a Lodge Deputy must be 
taken within one month : notice is sent him ; he reports 
his action to the Grand Master, and the Lodge sends up 
the record, as in other cases, 791, CI. 5. 
l^avt D. Rights of Parties during Appeal. 

1. The party appealing remains in the position in which he 
was placed by the decision of the Lodge or Deputy, and 
gains no rights by appeal, prior to decision thereon : if 
suspended or expelled, he cannot visit a Lodge, unless 
the Deputy suspends the sentence, 789, 790, 803. 

2. The party against whom or whidi appeal is taken loses no 
rights thereby : appeal against acquittal leaves the party 
free from disability, except that he cannot withdraw from 
his Lodge, nor resign from the Order, 790; appeal against 
payment of benefits, unless proceedings are stayed by the 
Deputy, does not stop the payment, 790, 803; appeal 
duri-ng installation does not stop it, 351. 

Division II. Appeals to Sovereign Grand Lodge. 

I. Are taken only from decisions of Grand Bodies, 804-5-6-7. 
[The case may have originated in a Subordinate Lodge, 
but goes to the wS.G.L. from a Grand Lodge.] 



284 ILLINOIS ODD-FELLOWS' CODE. 

2. May be taken on a hypothetical case, 805. 

3. May be submitted to Grand Sire in recess: his decisions 
are binding until reversed, 806. 

4. May be taken by any Lodge, with consent of its Grand 
Lodge, which consent must be certified in the appeal, 804. 

5. Or by any expelled subordinate without consent of its 
Grand Lodge, if has surrendered all its effects, 804. 

6. Or by any member or members of a Grand Body, with 
its consent, upon questions of general interest to the 
Order or to that jurisdiction, 804, but not upon individual 
grievances, even with its consent, 804. 

It seems that' appeals have been considered and decided by the 
S.G.L. where appeal has been taken by parties other than those 
specified in Sov. Const., Art. i, Sec. 4, and also in cases involving 
" no question of general interest of the entire Order, or the general 
interest of the Order" in the jurisdiction from which appeal is 
taken. — See note to Sec, 804 of this book. 

7. The Grand Body from which appeal is taken must settle 
definitely all questions of fact involved, and certify the 
same by its Grand Officers : if this is not done, its decision 
may be reversed, 807. 

8. An appeal must go to the session of the S.G.L. next after 
the grant of leave, or the right of appeal lapses, 808, but 
may be renewed by consent of the Grand Body. 

9. The appeal must be in the hands of the Grand Secretary 
of the S.G.L. on or before the first day of the session, 809. 

10. All appeals must be printed in pamphlet form; the pages 
must be of the size of the pages of the S.G.L. Journal 
[64 by 34 ems brevier; size of trimmed page, 9 by 6 
inches] : the number of copies must be such as to furnish 
one to every member of the S.G.L., 810. [200 copies 
will be sufficient for some years to come; 170 are re- 
quired now.] 



APPENDIX II. 

Forms. 

Form I. Petition for Warrant of a Subordinate 
Lodge. 

To the Grand Master, Officers and Members of the Right Worthy Grand 
Lodge of the I. O. O.F. of the State of Illinois: 

The petition of the undersigned Odd-Fellows of the Third 
Degree, holding withdrawal cards or dismissal certificates 
from Lodges legally recognized by your R.W. Body, respect- 
fully represents that it would be consistent with the advantage of 

•the Order to establish a Subordinate Lodge to be located at , 

in the county of , and State of Illirjois, to be knoM^n and 

hailed as Lodge, No. — . Wherefore your petitioners 

pray that a warrant may duly issue in pursuance of the iaws of 
your R.W. Body. 

Dated at , this — day of , 1 8 — . 

[Signed] 



etc. 

With the petition there must be sent to the Grand Secretary the with- 
drawal cards or dismissal certificates of the petitioners, and the charter 
fee, ^30. Previous correspondence on- the advisability of the opening of a 
Lodge should be had with the Grand Master, and an instituting officer 
agreed upon. 



Form 2. Petition for Removal of Lodge from One 
Place to Another. 

To the Grand Master, Officers and Members of the Grand Lodge of 
Illijtois, I.O.O.F. : 

The undersigned members of Lodge, No. — , now 

located at , in county, respectfully represent that it 

will be for the advantage of said Lodge in particular, and of 




286 ILLINOIS ODD-FELLOWS' CODE. 

tbe Order in general, that said Lodge be removed to , 

in county; wherefore they ask warrant for such removal. 



etc. 

Approved in Lodge meeting this ■ 
[seal] 

A remonstrance may be made in the same form by inserting "not" after 
*' will/' and omitting the request. With the petition should go e'vidence to 
the G.M. showing why the petition should be granted, and why any mem- 
bers have not signed it. 

Form 3. Petition for Revival of Defunct Lodge. 

To the Grand Master, Officers and Members of the Grand Lodge of 
Illinois, I 0.0. F. : 

The undersigned petitioners respectfully represent that they 

were formerly members of Lodge, No. — , at ,in 

county, which surrendered its charter and effects and is now 
defunct; that they are not now connected with any other Lodge, 
and are in good standing in the Order [or are ready to pay dues 
according to law] ; that they believe it to be for the good of the 
Order that said Lodge be now revived ; and that they are of the 
Third Degree ; wherefore they ask that the charter and effects of 
the Lodge be restored to them, pledging their hearty efforts to 
sustain and maintain the Lodge hereafter ; and they ask that the 
Grand Master, by himself or Deputy, shall duly reopen said 
Lodge No. — . 

Dated at , this — day of , 18 — . 

See the chapter on Defunct Lodges. If any of the petitioners hold with- 
drawal cards, these should accompany the petition. The petitioners should 
be five for a Lodge, all of the Third Degree. If less than five, the law of Sec. 
1059 must be observed : the petition must state that one or more was a former 
member of the defunct Lodge ; that a quorum cannot be obtained of former 
members ; " and effects " must be left out ; for " restored " put "given " 



Form 4. Petition for Consolidation of Lodges. 

To the Grand Master of the Grand Lodge of Illinois, I.O. O.F. : 

The petition of the under>igned members of Lodges, namely, 

Lodge, No. — , located at , and Lodge, No. — , 

at , respectfully show^eth that it will be for the good of the 



ILLINOIS ODD-FELLOWS' CODE. 287 

Order, and of the members of these Lodges especially, that the 
said Lodges shall be united into one Lodge under the law for 
consolidation of Lodges. 

This petition further showelh that neither Lodge finds five of 
its members in good standing, of the Third Degree and resident 
in its jurisdiction, who are desirous to retain the charter and to 
continue to work under it; and the schedules annexed show the 
full list of members of the several Lodges in good standing and 
of the Third Degree, the wish of every qualified member in 
the several jurisdictions having been carefully ascertained. 

Your- petitioners therefore ask that you will accept the sur- 
render of the charter of No. — and unite the Lodges under the 

charter of No. — , under the name and title of Lodge, 

No. — , located at . 

Dated this — day of , i8 — . 

[seal of no. — ] , N.G, of No. — . 

, Sec^y of No. — . 

[seal of no. — ] , N.G. of No. — . 

, Sec'y of No. — . 

Members of No. — . Members of No. — . 



With this petition there should go to the Grand Master schedules made 
separately for each Lodge, showing the names of all members who have not 
signed the petition, and showing how each resident member of the Third 
Degree in good standing stands on the question. Either of the names of the 
Lodges may be adopted, and either number : it is best to keep the smallest 
number, as the lower number is counted of higher rank. A new name may 
be asked for. — See the law in Sec. 200. 



Form 5. Petition for Warrant for a Rebekah-Degree 
Lodge. 

To the Gra7id Master, Officers and Members of the Gravid Lodge of the 
I. O. O. F. of the State of Illinois : 

The petition of the undersigned, legally qualified members 
of Lodges, respectfully represents that it would be consistent 
with the advantage of the Order to establish a Rebekah-Degree 

Lodge to be located at , in the county of , and State of 

Illinois, to be known and hailed as Rebekah-Degree 



288 ILLINOIS ODD- FELLOWS' CODE. 

Lodge, No. — . Wherefore your petitioners pray that a war- 
rant may duly issue in pursuance of the laws of your R,W. 
Body. 

Dated at , this — day of , i8 — ■ 

[Signed] 

etc. 

Charter fee, ^lo. Five signers of each sex, haying Rebekah Degree ; 
or ten signers, if there be already a R.D.L. in the same place. — See laws. 
Sees. 888, 889, 890. 

Form 6. Certificate for Applicants for a Rebekah- 
Degree Lodge Charter. 

Hall of — -■^- Lodge, No. — , I.O.O.P". ' 

At , Illinois, , 18 — . 

This certifies that A B , C D and E 

F are members in good standing in Lodge, No. — , of 

, in county; and that they and the ladies, M 

B , N D and O F , joining in the petition 

for a Rebekah-Degree Lodge, have the Rebekah Degree. 
[seal] , Secretary. 

A withdrawal card from a Rebekah-Degree Lodge will be evidence of 
possession of the Degree without such certificate. 



Form 7. To Authorize Conferring the Degree of 
Rebekah . 

These forms are given in Sees. 885 and 915 of the Code. 



Form 8. Certificate of Representative to Grand 
Lodge. (Prescribed form.) 

This form is given in the Code, Sec. 74, 

Form 9. Certificate for Past-Official Degrees. 

Hall of Lodge, No. — , I.O.O.F. ' 

At , Illinois, 18 — . 

This certifies that Bro. [P.G.] has served a legal 

term [or the remainder of a term, filling a vacancy] to the close 



ILLINOIS ODD-FELLOWS' CODE. 289 

thereof as N.G. ^[V.G. or Sec'y] in this Lodge, and is therefore 
entitled to the Past-Official Degree [s] of the office [s] named. 

[seal] , N.G. 

Attest : , Sec'y. 

No vote of the Lodge is allowed on this certificate : it is given in due 
course. A Permanent Secretary gets no degree. The several offices filled 
by the brother ma}" be included in one certificate. 



Form lo. Certificate for Membership in the Grand 
Lodge. 

Hall of Lodge, No. — , LO.O.F. ^ 

At , Illinois^ — — , i8 — . . j 

This certifies that Bro. is a Past Grand in good 

standing in this Lodge. 

[seal] , N. G. 

Attest : , Sec'y. 



Form II. Commission of Deputy of Grand Master. 

LO.O.F. — FRIENDSHIP, LOVE AND TRUTH. 

I, , Grand Master of the Independent Order of 

Odd-Fellows of the State of Illinois, to our well-beloved 

Brother , Past Grand, and to whom it may concern, 

Greeting : 

Know ye, That, reposing special confidence in your knowl- 
edge and discretion, I do, by virtue of the power and authority 

in me vested, hereby appoint and commission you, the said 

, our Deputy Grand Master for Lodge, No. — , at , 

in county. 

And, as our Deputy for said Lodge, you are empowered and 
directed to act as the special agent of the Grand Lodge of Illi- 
nois in relation to matters herein specified, to wit : 

To act for the Grand Master, and, by his direction, to do and 
perform whatever may have been ordered to be done and per- 
formed by the Grand I>odge of Illinois in said Lodge ; to act 
as the Representative of the Grand Lodge of Illinois, and to do 
and perform all such matters relating to the Order in said Lodge 
as the Grand Master may direct. You shall obey all special 
20 



290 ILLINOIS ODD-FELLOWS' CODE. 

instructions of the Grand Master in relation to •anything which 
that officer is required to do. 

You are to act as the agent of the Grand Secretary, and 
obey the special instructions of that officer. 

You have concurrent power with the Grand Master, where it 
does not conflict with his opinion, in granting all dispensations 
relating to the above-named Lodge and its work, if allowed by 
usage or express law, and not reserved by the Grand Master, 
but not otherwise. It is your duty to confer Official Degrees on 
Paht Officers; to install the officers of the Lodge, or cause it to 
be done by a qualified Past Grand, whose authority mu^t be in 
writing and presented to the Lodge upon his visiting it for 
installation. It is your duty to vi^it the Lodge at least once in 
each month, maintaining a general supervision over the Lodge, 
seeing that the work is clone correctly, and that the laws of the 
Grand Lodge are strictly adhered to ; and you must set aside 
any decision or action of the Lodge not in accordance therewith. 
It is your duty to see that the special instructions of the Grand 
Secretary respecting the returns of the Lodge are carefully 
observed and complied with. 

In all cases of doubt you must consult the Grand Master, or 
the Grand Secretary when the matter relates to the business of 
his office. You must immediately report to the Grand Secre- 
tary the regular installations of your Lodge, and, at least four 
weeks before the annual session of the Grand Lodge, you must 
report to the Grand Master the condition of the Lodge, and all 
your acts not previously reported. You are carefully to observe 
the laws regulating your office, and are not permitted to 
transcend the powers herein set forth. 

This commission is to be read in the Lodge on your first visit 
thereto, which fact is to be entered upon the records of the 
Lodge. This commission is to be in force through the year 
1 8 — (or such, part of it as may remain unexpired at the date 
herein below set forth) and until the appointment of your suc- 
cessor, unless it be sooner revoked by the Grand Lodge or the 
Grand Master. 

In testiifiony whej^eof, I have hereunto set my hand, and 
affixed the seal of the Grand Lodge of Illinois, this — day of 
, 18-. 

[seal] \ Grand Master. 

By the Grand Master : 

, Grand Sec'y. 



Form 13 and Erratum. 

From the signature line of Form 13, strike the letters N.G. 

Some Lodges prefer a form which combines an application and a propo- 
sition, so that it shall come directly from the candidate. These cannot be 
kept in a book, as suggested in the note to Form 13, since the book is part of 
the Lodge records, and cannot be presented to the candidate for his signa- 
ture. The following form is of this kind. 
To Lodge, No. —, I.O. O.F., of Illinois : 

The undersigned respectfully represents that he is desirous of becoming a 
member of_your benevolent Order \or, of your Lodge by deposit of card], 
and that he is "willing to yield obedience to your constitution and laws. His 

age is years ; his occupation, ; his residence, ; he refers to 

and 'n. Fee [and card] accompanying. 

:>...,-_, [Signed] G F . 

I propose Mr. [<?r Bro.] G F for membership in this Lodge. 

Date, , , 18—. [Signed] M R . 



ILLINOIS ODD-FELLOWS' CODE. 291 

Form 12. Installation Report. (Prescribed form.) 

Office of Deputy of Lodge, No. — 1 

At , i8— . i 

To the Grand Secretary, Grand Lodge of Illinois, I. O. O.F. : 

The undersigned reports that the officers of the above-named 
Lodge, No. — , were duly installed on the evening of the — of 
, to wit: 

, N.G. , V.G. 

, Sec'y. , P. Sec^y. 

, Treas. 

These officers were installed by me after ascertaining that the 
reports to the Grand Lodge then due had been made out, and 
the assessment due the Grand Lodge had been drawn from the 
treasury of the Lodge, and both w^ere ready to be forwarded or 
had been forwarded by the Secretary to the Grand wSecretary. 
Yours in F, \.. and T., 

, Deputy. 

This form is sent by the Grand Secretary with the blanks for reports of 
the Lodge : instructions for use accompany it. 



Form 13. Proposition for Membership, with Report. 

, 18—. 

To Lodge, No. —, 10. O.F. , , Illinois : 

The undersigned proposes for membership, by , in this 

Lodge, Mr. Q P : his age is ; occupation ; 

residence . Refers to O. M. L. and N. F. 

Fee, $ — , accompanies. 

[Signed] , N.G. 

, 18—. 

The undersigned committee on the aljove proposition report 
thereon — favorably. 

[Signed] 

Covnnittee. 



It is very convenient for a Lodge to have a book of blank propositions 
printed, in which all are filled out as occasion arises, and thus remain on 
file. The proposer, when in the Lodge room, fills out and signs the blank ; 
the committee do not take the paper away, but make note of the name, 



292 ILLINOIS ODD-FELLOWS' CODE. 

residence, references, etc., and make investigation : when ready^ they fill 
the blank report, signing it in the book. Thus the whole is kept all the 
while in the Lodge room and in a convenient record. 

The blank in the proposition after by is to be filled with the word initia- 
tion, or card, or Ancietit Odd-Fello%uship , or Dismissal Certificate. If 
there be a card or dismissal certificate, it must accompany the proposition. 
The references are not required to be members of the Order. 

If the plan of having all this business in one book is not adopted, and the 
committee reports on a separate paper, the above form of report is not suit- 
able ; the following should be used : 



Form 14. Report of a Committee of Investigation 

UPON AN Application for Membership. 

To Lodge, No. —, I. O. O. F. , of Illinois : 

The undersigned, Committee of Investigation on the proposi- 
tion of Mr. \or Bro.] for membership by initiation 

\or by deposit of card], respectfully report that they have 
inquired into "his standing and character, and believe him 
— worthy to become a member of our Lodge. We therefore 

recommend that he be elected. 

[Signed] 

Committee. 



To be used when propositions and reports are not kept in one book, as 
suggested under Form 13. 



Form 15. Certificate of Standing for Application for 
Admission to an Encampment. 

Hall of Lodge, No. — , I.O.O.F. \ 

At , Illinois, ■ , 18 — . J 

This certifies that Bro. is a member of this Lodge 

in good standing, and of the Third Degree. 

[seal] , Sec'y of Lodge, No. — . 

This certificate is given without a vote of the Lodge, Sec. 296 ; it is given 
as a matter of course to any brother who asks it for its proper purpose. 
Either Secretary of a Lodge may give this certificate in the absence of 
specific law; but if attested by the seal, it should not be given by the Per- 
manent Secretary, as that is not in his keeping. 



ILLINOIS ODD-FELLOWS' CODE, 293 

Form i6. Order for A.T.P.W. (Prescribed form.) 

Lodge, No. — , , State of , | 

day of 1 8 — . / 

To the Noble Grand of any Lodge of the I. O.O.F. : 

The bearer, Bro. M F , holding a legal card from 

this Lodge, dated this — day of , i8 — , for the period of 

months, is entitled to the A.T.P.W. for the current year, 

which please communicate to him after due examination ; 
whereupon you will retain or destroy this letter. 

[seal] ■ , N. G. 

Attest : , Sec\y. 

The same form is used, whether the card be for visiting or withdrawal : 
if the card is a withdrawal card, the blank is filled " for the period of twelve 
months." This form is not a part of the supplies of the S.G.L.: it may be 
written out for use. It is kept for sale b}?^ the Grand Secretary of Illinois. 

Form 17. Order for the Term P.W., within the State 

ONLY. 

Lodge, No. — , of , State of Illinois, \ 

day of , 18 — . / 

To the Noble Grand of any Lodge of the I. O. O.F. in the State of Illinois : 

The bearer, Bro. , is a member of this Lodge in 

good standing, and entitled to the password for the current 
term, which you will please communicate to him after due 
examination; whereupon you will retain or destroy this Ittter. 

[seal] ;-N. G, 

Attest : -, Sedy. 

This is kept for sale by the Grand Secretary ; but it may be written out 
by a Secretary. 

Before communicating the password on such an order, any officer to whom 
it is presented should be fully satisfied of the identit}^ of the person pre- 
senting it. 

Form 18. Introduction of a Member Elected on Card. 

No form or ceremony for introduction of a member elected on 
deposit of card has been adopted in this state, but the member is 
to be introduced by a committee. The compiler suggests the 
following form : 

After the examination provided in Sec. 520, by the Noble 
Grand, or by a committee under his order, the committee con- 



294 ILLINOIS ODD-FELLOWS' CODE. 

ducts him into the Lodge like a visitor ; and its leading mem- 
ber says : 

" Noble Grand, I have the pleasure of introducing to you and 
to the Lodge, as one of our own number from this time, Bro. 

[P.G.] , whom the brethren have elected a member of 

this Lodge upon deposit of card." 

The Noble Grand calls up, rises, and says : 

"Bro. , in the name of this Lodge I welcome you 

as henceforth a member of Lodge, No. — . The confidence 

of the brethren has given you admission; and we trust that your 
membership with us will prove mutually pleasant and profitable. 

The committee will conduct Bro. to the Secretary to 

sign the constitution ; after which he w^ill be seated as one of 
us." 

Form 19. Introduction of a Visiting Brother. 

The mode of examining a visiting brother before introduction 
is given in Sec. 520; but both the committee and the presiding 
officer often feel the lack of proper words to complete the intro- 
duction. The compiler suggests the following : 

The committee, having announced themselves as "the com- 
mittee with a visitor," are admitted, and, after the salutations, 
the chief of the committee says : 

" Noble Grand, I have the pleasure of introducing to you and 

to the Lodge Brother , of Lodge, No. — , of the 

jurisdiction of , who has this evening honored us with a visit." 

The Noble Grand calls up, rises, and says : 

" Brother , we thank you for the honor of your visit 

this evening, and extend you a fraternal greeting. We trust 
you will visit us as often as convenient during your stay in our 

town. The committee will conduct Brother to a 

seat." 

The chief of the committee, who should still retain the card, 
now takes it to the Secretary, who indorses on it : 

"Visited Lodge, No. — ,at , 111., ,18—. 

, Secretary.^'' 

This should b.e written in a couple of neat lines near the top 
of the card: it saves the necessity of another examination i^Sec. 
525). During the evening, the Warden takes the card from the 
Secretary and hands it to the visitor. The indorsement is 
regular usage. 



ILLINOIS ODD-FELLOWS' CODE. 295 

Form 20. Dismissal Certificate. (Prescribed form.) 

Given in Sec, 773 of this Code. 

Form 21. Card FOR a Brother's Wife. (Prescribed form.) 
friendship, love and truth. 

To all to whom these prese^its shall come , Greeting: 

This certifies that , whose name is indorsed on the 

margin of this card in her own proper handwriting, is the wife 

of our well-beloved brother , who is a member of 

Lodge, No. — , held at , and working under authority 

of a charter duly granted by authority of the Grand Lodee of 
the . We therefore recommend her to your friend- 
ship and protection wherever she may be, throughout the world, 
for the space of , and no longer. 

/;/ witness wke7'eof, we have subscribed our names and affixed 

the seal of our Lodge, this — day of , in the year of our 

Lord one thousand eight hundred and . 

[seal] , N. G. 

See concerning this card Sec. 518. The Grand Lodge of Illinois has kept 
blanks for sale, varied in form for a widow. But this card may l^e written 
out by the Secretary. 

Form 22. Card for Lady having the Rebekah Degree. 
(Prescribed form.) 

i.o.o.f. — friendship, love and truth. 

To zvhoJH it may concerii : 

This is to certify that Mrs, , whose name, written 

by herself, is situated on the margin of this certificate, is the 

wife of Bro. , a member of our Lodge, and has 

been duly initiated and instructed in the Degree of Rebekah, 
and is entitled to be recognized as a sister of that degree so long 
as her husband remains in good standing in the Order. And 
we specially request the Noble Grand of any Lodge to which 
she may apply to instruct her in any part of the w^ork of said 
degree which she may at any time have forgotten, due evidence 
appearing of her husband's good standing as aforesaid. 

This certificate is issued by Lodge, No. — , working at 



296 ILLINOIS ODD-FELLOWS' CODE. 

, in county, under the jurisdiction of the Grand Lodge 

of Illinois. 

In witness whereof, we have signed and sealed this certificate, 
this — day of , a.d. i8 — . 

[seal] , N. G. 

, Sec'y. 

The issue of the above was authorized in 1857, "^"^^ it is sold by the Grand 
Secretary, who also has the same Form varied for widows who have the 
Rebekah Degree. 

If the lady is member of a Rebekah-Degree Lodge, she should obtain a 
card of the Form No. 23, below : this form is for those who have the degree 
but are not members of a R.D.L. This Form may be written out by a 
Secretary. 



Form 23. — Visiting Card, Lady of Rebekah-Degree 
Lodge. 

This form and the following are given for information : they are not 
forms that may be copied and used. Both this card and the next are issued 
by the S.G.L., and must have its seal in order to be valid. 

FRIENDSHIP, LOVE AND TRUTH : INDEPENDENT ORDER OF 
ODD-FELLOWS. 

To all whojn it may concern : 

This certifies that our well-beloved sister , whose 

name is written on the margin of this card in her own proper 
handwriting, is a member of good standing of Rebekah- 
Degree Lodge, No. — , located at and working under a 

charter granted by the R.W. Grand Lodge of . 

We therefore recommend her to your friendship and protec- 
tion, and admission into all regular Rebekah-Degree Lodges 

of Odd-Fellows for the space of from this date, and no 

longer. - 

In witness whereof, we have sub- 

SEAL OF \ scribed our names and affixed the seal J seal of \ 

S.G.L. . j of our Rebekah-Degree Lodge, this — \ R.D.L. j 

day of , in the year of our Lord 

one thousand eight hundred and . 

[Signed] , N.G. 

, Sec'y. 



ILLINOIS ODD-FELLOWS' CODE. 297 

Form 24. Rebekah-Degree Lodge Withdrawal Card. 

FRIENDSHIP, LOVE AND TRUTH : INDEPENDENT ORDER OF 
ODD-FELLOWS. ' 

To all whom it may co7icer?i : 

This certifies that our well-beloved [brother or sister, M. N.] 
whose name is written on the margin of this card in h — own 
proper handwriting, was regularly admitted a member of our 

Lodge, in conformity with law, on the — day of , 18 — , 

and has paid all demands against h — up to this date, and is 
under no charge whatever. We therefore recommend h — to 
your friendship and protection, and admission into any regular 
Degree Lodge of the Daughters of Rebekah of the Independent 

Order of Odd-Fellows to which may apply within one 

year from the date hereof. 

This card is granted by Degree Lodge, No. — , of the 

Daughters of Rebekah, which was duly instituted at on 

the — day of , 18 — , by authority of the Right Worthy 

Grand Lodge of the of . 

In witness whereof, we subscribe 
r SEAL OF \ hereto our hands and affix the seal of / seal of ) 

\ R.D.L. / our Lodge, this — day of , in the \ s.G.L. / 

year of our Lord one thousand eight 

hundred and . 

[Signed] , A^.G. 

, Sec^y. 

This card is for either sex. (See prefator}'^ note to Form 23.) 

Form 25. Certificate of Trustees, for Record in 
County Recorder's Office. 

To whom it f}iay concern : 
This certifies that on the day of the date hereof, at a regular 

meeting of Lodge, No. — , of the Independent Order of 

Odd-Fellows in the State of Illinois, located ^t , in the 

county of , and being one of the Subordinate Lodges 

belonging to the Grand Lodge of the State of Illinois of the 
Independent Order of Odd-Fellows, the following-named 
persons were, by the said Subordinate Lodge, duly elected 



298 ILLINOIS ODD'FELLOIVS' CODE. 

Trustees thereof, to continue in office, as such Trustees, for one 
year, and until their successors are elected, to wit : 



Given under our hands and the seal of the said Subordinate 

Lodge, this — day of , A.D. one thousand eight hundred 

and . 

[seal] , A'.G. 

Attest: -, Sec'y. 

For laws on the election of Trustees, see Sees. 1016 to 1019. 

Form 26. Treasurer's Bond. 

Know all Men by These Presents, That I, , as 

principal, and we, , , as securities, are held 

and firmly bound unto the Trustees of Lodge, No. — , oi 

the Independent Order of Odd-Fellows, organized and working 
under the laws of the Grand Lodge of the State of Illinois, of the 
Independent Order of Odd-Fellows, a corporation duly organized 
and existing under the laws of the State of Illinois, in the sum of 

dollars, for the payment of which well and truly to be made 

to the said Trustees of Lodge, No. — , as aforesaid, we 

bind ourselves, our heirs, executors and administrators, jointly 
and severally, firmly by these presents. 

Sealed with our seals, and dated this — day of , eighteen 

hundred and . 

Whereas, the said has been elected Treasurer of 

the said Lodge, No. — , for the term commencing on the 

first day in January, 18 — , and ending on the thirty-first day of 
December in the same year, by reason whereof divers sums of 
money, bonds, choses in action, chattels, and other property 
belonging to said Lodge No. — , will come into his hands ; 

Nozo, therefore, the condition of the above obligation is such, 

that if the said , Treasurer, shall keep a regular and 

correct account of all moneys received by him as Treasurer, and 
pay out the same, or any portion thereof, upon the proper order 
of said Lodge No. — , and not otherwise; and shall safely keep, 
und upon the expiration of his term of office, and whenever by 
said Lodge required, shall render unto said Lodge No. — ,' a 
just and true account of all such sum or sums of money, bonds, 



ILLINOIS ODD- FELLOWS' CODE. 299 

choses in action, chattels, and other property, as shall at any 
time have come into his hands, charge or possession, as Treasurer 
of said Lodge; and shall pay and deliver over to his successor 
in office, upon demand of him made by his successor, or by said 
Lodge No. — , all such balances or sums of money, bonds, choses 
in action, chattels, and other property which shall at any time 
have come into his hands, possession or control, as Treasurer of 

said Lodge No. — ; and if the said , Treasurer, shall 

not wrong said Lodge No. — to the value of anything, nor 
take part or share, directly or indirectly, in any illegal distribu- 
tion of the funds or other property of said Lodge No. — , but 
shall, to the best of his ability, endeavor to prevent any such 
perversion of Lodge property, and shall in all things well and 
truly, honestly and faithfully perform all and singular his duties 
as Treasurer of said Lodge No. — , during his continuance in 
office, then the above obligation to be void; otherwise, in full 

force and virtue. [seal] 

"seal] 
seal] 
seal] 

This bond must have been approved by a majority of the Trustees, and 
afterward be presented to and approved by the Lodge, before installation of 
officers begins : at least two good securities must be given. If a Treasurer 
is reelected, a n<;w bond must be given. A bond containing interlineations 
or erasures should not be approved. The chairman of the Trustees is the 
proper custodian of this bond. 



Form 27. Permanent Secretary's Bond. 

Know all Men by these Presents, that I, , as 

principal, and we, , , as securities, are held 

and firmly bound unto the Trustees of Lodge, No. — , of 

the Independent Order of Odd-Fellows, organized and working 
under the laws of the Grand Lodge of the State of Illinois, of 

the Independent Order of Odd-Fellows, in the sum of 

dollars, for the payment of which well and truly to be made to 

the said Trustees of Lodge, No. — , as aforesaid, we bind 

ourselves, our heirs, executors and administrators, jomtly and 
severally, firmly by these presents. 

Sealed with our seals, and dated this — day of , eighteen 

hundred and — — . 



300 ILLINOIS ODD-FELLOWS' CODE. 

Whereas^ the said has been elected Permanent 

Secretary of the said Lodge, No. — , for the term com- 
mencing on the first day of January, 1 8 — , and ending on the 
thirty-first day of December in the same year ; 

Now, the condition of this obligation is such, that if the said 

, Permanent Secretary, shall faithfully and honestly 

perform all the duties of his said office, as specified in the Con- 
stitution and By-Laws of said Lodge No. — , and in the laws of 
the Grand Lodge of the State of IlHnois of the Independent 
Order of Odd-Fellovvs, this obligation shall be void; otherwise, 
it shall be in full force.' 

Signed, sealed and delivered in the presence of 

[seal] 
[seal] 
[seal] 

This bond must be approved by the Lodge before installation of officers 
begins : at least two good securities must be given. If a Permanent Secre- 
tary is reelected, a new bond must be given. The chairman of the Trustees 
is the proper custodian of this bond. 



Form 28. Petition for Dispensation. 

To P. G. , Deputy of Grand Maste7'for Lodge No. —, I.O. O.F. : 

Dear Sir and Brother: You are respectfully requested 

to grant to Lodge, No. — , a dispensation allowing us 

[Then put in what is asked for, stating reasons for the 
request : thus, for instance, " To elect a Third-Degree member 
to the office of Noble Grand, as there is no P.G. or P.V.G. free 
from pending charges willing to accept the office." Or thus : 
" To have procession with regalia on the Fourth of July next, as 
we have been invited by our fellow-citizens to join them in the 
celebration of the day."] By order of the Lodge. 

[seal] ' ' , N.G. 

Attest: , Sec'y. 

Form 29. Dispensation. 

To Lodge, No. ~, I. O. O.F. of Illinois : 

By virtue of the authority committed to me as Deputy of the 
Grand Master for your Lodge, I hereby grant and allow to you, 

according to the tenor of your petition dated , 18 — , the 

same being in due form, a dispensation authorizing you 



ILLINOIS ODD-FELLOU^S' CODE. 301 

[To have proposed, reported upon, elected and initiated (or 
admitted by card), upon one and the same evening, Mr. 

— •] 

[To elect a Third-Degree member to the office of Noble 
Grand.] 

[To have a procession, with regalia, at a celebration on the 
of next.] 

Dated at , on the — of , i8 — . 

, Deputy. 

Form 30. Petition to Grand Master for Dispensation 
FOR Festival. 

Hall of Lodge, No. — , I.O.O.F. \ 

, Illinois, , 18 — . ] 

To the Grand Master of the Grand Lodge of Illhiois, I. O. O.F. : 

Dear Sir and Brother : You are respectfully requested 

to grant to Lodge, No. — , a dispensation allowing us to 

have a — * — on the — day of , 18 — , using the name and 

regalia of the Order. We pledge ourselves that no intoxicating 
beverages of any kind shall be used or offered to members or 
guests on the occasion. We further certify that the Lodge has 
been fully indemnified against any and all loss or liability by or 
through the ball, festival, or other entertainment, dispensation 
for which is hereby applied for. 

Done by order of the Lodge. 

In testimony whereof, we hereunto set our hands and affix 
the seal, the day and year above written. 

[seal] , N. G. 

, Sec'y. 

An accompanying letter should state the nature or form of the indemnity, 
that it is a sum of money collected, or a subscription, etc., and its amount : 
the Grand Master has the right to require what will satisfy him. 

Blank for this petition may be obtained from the Grand Secretary. 



Form 31. An Information, or Complaint. 

To the N.G. of Lodge, No. —: 

I have reason to believe that our Bro. has been 

guilty of conduct unbecoming an Odd-Fellow, and desire that 
the matter be investigated. 



f^02 ILLINOIS ODD-FELLOWS' CODE, 

He is charged with [Here state the particular offense or 
offenses; but the details of the evidence need not be given.] 

Witnesses are Bros. A. B. and C. D., and Messrs. E. F. and 
G. H. [Signed] . 

The Noble Grand keeps this paper, and refers a copy only to the com- 
mittee which he appoints to investigate it. The information is never 
presented to the Lodge, unless the complainant chooses to present it openly; 
in that case it may be addressed to the Lodge and not to the Noble Grand. 
See the Practical Code of Trials, Div. IL The information must be signed 
by the brother who presents it. {Sec. 642.) 



Form 32. Charges. 

To the Officers and Members of Lodge, No. — , /. O.O.F. of Illinois : 

The undersigned, your committee appointed to investigate the 

complaint against Bro. , a member of this Lodge, 

respectfully report that we have made due investigation as to 
the matter complained of, and find from the evidence that 
may be and probably is guilty of conduct unbe- 
coming an Odd-Fellow. We therefore prefer the Tollowing 
charges : 

Charge I. — We charge Bro. with [Here insert the 

offense: thus, for example, " with intoxication."] 

Specification I. [That he was intoxicated at Long Point, May 

7*-] 

Specification 2. [That he was intoxicated at the celebration of 
the Fourth of July last.] 

Charge H. — We charge Bro. ■ with [fraud]. 

Specificatio7i i. [That he obtained goods from Mr. A. B. on 
false representations of his ability to pay, etc.] 

Witnesses on the part of the prosecution, CD., E.F., G. H. 

and L J. [wSigned] 

■ Co7nviittee. 



The Charges should state the offense, and the Specifications give a sketch 
of the particular things done, as in the above examples. The charge may be 
a single one, " We charge Bro. A.B. with conduct unbecoming an Odd-Fel- 
low": and under this the specifications of misconduct may be alleged. If 
offenses of one sort only are alleged, this is not objectionable ; but as the 
real charges must go on record and be reported to the Grand Lodge in case 
of suspension or expulsion, it is better to charge the offense ; especially 
when there are two or three sorts of offense, as fraud, desertion, slander, etc.- 



ILLINOIS ODD-FELLOWS' CODE. 308 



Form 33. Citation of Accused, with Charges. 

Hall of Lodge, No. — , I.O.O.F. \ 

At , Illinois, , 1 8 — . / 

To Mr. A B .• 

Dear Sir and Brother : At the regular meeting of the 
Lodge held this evening, the following charges against you were 
presented ; and you will please take notice that you are by law 
required to appear and answer to them at the second stated 
meeting hereafter, under penalty for contempt if you fail thereof. 
Fraternally yours^ 

[seal] , 

Sec'y of Lodge, N'o. — . 

In the same letter or on the same paper put the charges and specifications 
in full. If the brother holds a withdrawal card, the Lodge should annul it 
when thechargts are brought in {Sec. 657), and the following should be added 
to the above citation : 

" And you are further notified that the Lodge has annulled the with- 
drawal card heretofore granted 3'ou, which annulment brings you into 
membership again." 

Form 34. Citation to a Witness who is an Odd-Fellow. 

Hall of Lodge, No. — , I.O.O.F. 1 

At , Illinois, , 1 8 — . / 

To Brother C D .• 

You are hereby notified to appear at the Hall of this Lodge 

on evening, , i8 — , to give testimony in case of an 

accusation against Bro. ; and herein you will not fail, 

under such penalty as our laws provide. Our Lodge meets at 
o'clock. Fraternally yours, 



[seal] 



Sec^y of Lodge, No. 



Form 35. Invitation to a Witness who is not an 
Odd-Fellow\ 

Hall of Lodge, No. — , I.O.O.F. 1 

At , Illinois, , l8 — . / 

To Mr. E F .• 

Dear Sir: A charge of misconduct has been preferred 
against Bro. — , member of our Lodore, and it lias 



304 ILLINOIS ODD-FELLOWS' CODE. 

been suggested that your testimony will be important in the 
scrutiny of it. The Lodge therefore respectfully requests that 

you will meet Bro. -, committee to take testimony, 

at [the Lodge room], on evening, , i8 — , at 

o'clock, to give your evidence; or, if you cannot do so, that 
you will agree with the committee and the accused upon some 
other time and place. 

On behalf of the Lodge, 

Yours respectfully, 

[seal] , 

Sec'y of Lodge, No. — . 

The accused should always be notified of the time and place of taking all 
testimony. If a witness be a lady, the above invitation should be varied 
thus : 

Strike out all after '^ respectfully requests that you will " and insert 

'' inform Bro. , committee to take testimony, at what time and 

place he and the accused brother may call upon you to receive your evi- 
dence. Please name an early time." 



Form 36. Obligation of Witness : Verbal Testimony. 

You solemnly promise, upon your honor as a man [and as an 
Odd-Fellow], that the testimony Avhich you shall give respect- 
ing matters in question in this trial shall be the truth, the whole 
truth so far as known to you, and nothing but the truth. 



Form 37. Certificate of Witness : Written Testimony. 

I hereby certify, upon my honor, that the foregoing state- 
ments, constituting my testimony in the matter of an accusation 

against Bro. , before Lodge, No. — , I.O.O.F., 

are true, the whole truth in the case so far as known to me, 
and nothing but the truth. 

Attest : , Committee. 

There is no rule or reason to forbid the taking of outside testimony in the 
form of an affidavit, and having it sworn to before a notary or magistrate. 
The privacy of the Order cannot be maintained when outsiders are witnesses. 
But if the evidence be in the form of an affidavit, it must be taken and 
sworn to in presence of the Committee on Outside Testimony, and of the 
accused, unless the latter has neglected, after due notice, to be present. 



ILLINOIS ODD-FELLOWS' CODE, 305 

Form 38. Change of Venue. 

, Illinois, , 18 — . 

To Lodge, No. —, I.O.O.F. : 

Officers and Members:. The undersigned, three members 

of the Lodge, are of opinion that Bro. will not 

receive an impartial trial in this Lodge, and they ask of the 
Grand Master that he shall grant a removal of the trial to 
another Lodge, according to law. 

[Signed] 

See on this, Sees. 711, 713. 

Form 39. Appeal. 

To Lodge, No. —, I. O. O.F. : 

Take notice, that the under.-igned hereby appeals from the 
action and judgment of the Lodge in the matter of charges 

preferred against Bro. , and assigns the following 

as grounds of such appeal : 

First ^ 

Second " 

Third 

Fourth * 

[Signed] 

For fuller details on taking an appeal, and especially on stating the 
grounds of appeal, see Practical Code of Appeals, Div. I, Part A and 
Part C, pp. 280, 281. 



Form 40. Petition for Permission to Reinstate. 

PL\LL of Lodge, Xo. — , LO.O.F. ) 

■ , Illinois, , 18 — . / 

To the Grand Lodge of Illinois, LO.O.F. : 

Dear Sirs and Brothers: On the day of , 18 — , 

was expelled by this Lodge. On the day of 

, 18 — , he applied in writing for reinstatement. The appli- 
cation was referred to^ a committee of three members, which 

21 



306 ILLINOIS ODD-FELLOWS' CODE, 

committee, after due investigation, reported recommending that 
the request be granted. A ballot was then had on the applica- 
tion, when two-thirds of the members present voted in favor of 
reinstatement. You are, therefore, hereby respectfully requested 
to grant permission to this Lodge to reinstate said . 

Fee paid as the law provides, namely, the amount required 
from one of like age applying for initiation. 

By order of the Lodge, 

[seal] , Secretary. 

With this the law requires that the Lodge shall send to the Grand Master 
a statement of the offense for which the person was expelled, giving the 
circumstances so far as necessary for that officer's information. The same 
document must show also that the expelled person has reformed, and made 
reparation and apology {Sec. 819). The Grand Secretary can furnish 
printed blank for this petition. 



APPENDIX III. 
Diagram of Lodge Room. 

Adopted by the G. L. U. S., Session, 1872. 



R.s. N.G. l: 



WARDEN. CONDUCTOR. 



[]:• 



LODGE ROOM 



^0 



L.S. V.G. R.s. 



I. S. GUARD N. 



Door. 

Ante or 
Preparation Room, 



This diagram is only intended to show the position of the various officers 
of a Subordinate Lodge. The location of the doors, either to the Lodge 
room, or to the ante-room, or from outside of the vestibule, cannot be deter- 
mined. It is not proposed to fix definitely which side of the N. G. the Secre- 
tary^ and Treasurer shall sit or face, nor which side of the room the P. G. .shall 
sit ; but the Chaplain, if there is one, should sit opposite the P. G. — U. S. 5586. 



APPENDIX IV. 
Acts of Incorporation of Grand and Subordinate Lodges. 

I. An Act FOR THE Incorporation of the Grand 
Lodge of the State of Illinois of the Independ- 
ent Order of Odd-Fellows, and the Subordinate 
Lodges thereunto belonging. 

«§ I. Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois, repre- 
sented in the General Assejnbly : That Charles H. Constable, 
F. Scammon, John M. Law, Stephen A. Corneau, Herman E. 
Blakeley, George W. Woodward, Henry Marfield, William 
Kearns, H. Foster, H. E. Roberts, and William M. Parker, the 
present officers in the Grand Lodge of the State of Illinois of 
the Independent Order of Odd-Fellows, and their successors, 
be, and they are hereby, declared to be a community, corpora- 
tion, and body-politic, by the name and style of the " Grand 
Lodge of the State of Illinois of the Independent Order of Odd- 
Fellows^\' and by that name they and their successors shall 
and may, at all times hereafter, be capable in law to have, re- 
ceive and retain, to them and their successors, property real 
and personal, also devises or bequests of any person or persons, 
bodies corporate or politic, capable of making the same, and 
the same at their pleasure to transfer or dispose of in such man- 
ner as they may think proper : Provided, always, that the said 
corporation, or body-politic, shall not at any time hold or possess 
property, real, personal or mixed, exceeding in annual value 
the sum of twenty thousand dollars. 

^ 2. That the said corporation and their successors, by the 
name and style and title aforesaid, shall be forever hereafter 
capable in law to sue and be sued, plead and be impleaded, 
answer and be answered unto, defend and be defended, in all 
a"nl any courts of justice, and before all and any judge, officers^ 



ILLINOIS ODD-FELLOWS' CODE. '■)()1> 

or persons whatever, in all and singular actions, matters or 
demands whatsoever. 

\ 3. That it shall be lawful for said corporation to have a 
common seal for their use, and the same at their will and 
pleasure to. change, alter and make anew from time to time, as 
they may think best; and shall in general have and exercise all 
such rights, and privileges, and immunities, as by law are 
incident or necessary to the corporation herein const tuted. 

\ 4. That the Subordinate Lodges which are now belonging 
to, and which may hereafter be instituted by, the said corpora- 
tion and their successors, by the name and number of their 
respective Lodges, of the Independent Order of Odd-Fellows 
in the State of Illinois, shall be declared to be a community, 
corporation and body-politic, and to be at all times hereafter 
capable in law to have, receive and retiin, to them and their 
successors, property real and personal, also devises or l^eque-ts 
of any person or persons, bodies corporate or politic, capable of 
making the same, and the same at their pleasure to transfer or 
dispose of in such manner as they may think best : Provided, 
always, that either of the said Subordinate Lodges shall not 
at any time hold or possess property, real or mixed, exceeding 
in annual value the sum of ten thousand dollars. 

^ 5. That each of the said Subordinate Lodges which now 
are, and which may hereafter be, instituted by the aforesaid 
corporation, shall, from and after the passage of this act, elect 
or appoint annually five Trustees and certificate of the appoint- 
ment of said Trustees shall be receded in the office of the 
County Recorder [of the county] in which said Subordinate 
Lodges are situated ; and that the said Trustees and their suc- 
cessors shall be forever thereafter capable in law to sue and be 
sued, plead and be impleaded, answer and be answered unto, 
defend and be defended, in all 6r any courts of justice, and 
before all and every judge, officers, or persons whatever, in all 
and singular actions, matters or demands whatsoever. 

\ 6. That it shall and may be lawful for either and all of the 
said Subordinate Lodges to have a common seal for their use, 
and the same at their will and pleasure to change, alter and 
make anew, from time to time, as they may think best; and 
shall in general have and exercise all such rights, privileges 
and immunities as by law are incident or necessary to corpora- 



310 ILLINOIS ODD-FELLOWS' CODE. 

tions, and what may be necessary to the corporations herein 
constituted. 

\ 7. This act shall take effect from and after its passage. 
Z. CASEY, 

Speaker of the House of Representatives. 

WILLIAM McMURTRY, 

Speaker of the Senate. 
Approved February 8, 1849 • 

Aug. C. French. 



2. An Act TO Amend an Act entitled " An Act for 
THE Incorporation of the Grand Lodge of the 
State of Illinois of the Independent Order of 
Odd-Fellows, and the Subordinate Lodges there- 
unto BELONGING." 

\ I. Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois, repre- 
sented in the General Assembly: That said corporation, and 
each of said Subordinate Lodges, shall have power to loan 
money belonging to the same respectively, and take promissory 
note or other evidence of debt for the money so loaned or any 
property sold, which may be recovered in the corporate name 
aforesaid, in all courts or places where judicial proceedings are 
had. 

\ 2 In case any Subordinate Lodge under the jurisdiction of 
said Grand Lodge shall ce^e to exist, or forfeit its charter, then 
all the estate, real and personal, together with all the records, 
]:)ooks, papers, vouchers, furniture, jewels, seals and fixtures, 
belonging to such Lodge, shall immediately vest in said Grand 
Lodge; and all personal property, books, records, papers, vouch- 
ers, jewels, seals, furniture, deeds, money, evidences of debt, 
leases or mortgages belonging to said Lodge, so forfeiting its 
charter or ceasing to exist, shall be delivered over by its last 
Secretary, Treasurer, or Trustees of the same, or other person 
or persons having custody of them, to the proper officer or 
agent of said Grand Lodge, on demand; and the person or 
persons holding or having in their possession such funds or pro- 
perty failing to do this, each and every such person shall be 
liable to the said Grand Lodge in an action of debt for the 
value of the same. 



ILLINOIS ODD-FELLOWS' CODE. 311 

\ 3. This act shall be deemed a public act, and take effect 
and be in force from and after its passage. 

ALLEN C. FULLER, 

Speaker of the House. 

WILLIAM BROSS, 

Speaker of the Senate. 
Approved February 163 1865: 

Richard J. Oglesby. 

[This was accepted by the Grand Lodge at its session in 1865. — Jour. 
.111., Vol. Ill, p. 561.] 



[Tl 
G.L. ] 



3. Decision of Supreme Court of Illinois. — The 
mode of suing in a court in a case in which the Lodge is 
plaintiff appears in the following extract from the decision of 
the Supreme Court, in 1862, in the case of W. E. D. Marsh 
vs. Astoria Lodge, No. 112: IlHnois Reports, Vol. XXVII, 
p. 421 : 

" The Grand Lodge can sue, by express grant, in their cor- 
porate name \^Sec. 2 of Act]. The Subordinate Lodges cannot 
so sue. They must sue and be sued in the name of the Trus- 
tees \_Sec. 5 of Act], and in no other mode and by no other 
name." 

As the amendatory act is later than this decision, it follows 
that in the one case specified in Sec. i thereof a Lodo^e may 
sue by its corporate name; but the decision applies to all other 
suits. 



APPENDIX V. 

Information respecting the Grand Lodge of the United 
States, and the Sovereign Grand Lodge. 

Introductory Note. — The first permanent and successful 
organization of the I.O.O.F. in the United States was effected 
by the efforts of Thomas Wildey, when Washington Lodge, 
No, I, was formed at the Seven Stars Tavern, Second street, 
Baltimore, Md., April 26, 18 19. Wildey, with John Duncan, 
John Welch, John Cheatham and Richard Rush worth formed 
this first Lodge. A " Grand Lodge of Maryland and of the 
United States" was organized February 22, 1821, with Thomas 
Wildey as Grand Master. The " Grand Lodge of the United 
States" was organized January 15, 1825, with Thomas Wildey 
as M.W. Grand Master; but a year later the title was changed 
to Grand Sire, by general consent. P^our Grand Lodges, to wit, 
Maryland, Massachusetts, New York and Pennsylvania, were 
represented in this organization. 

I. Sovereign Grand Lodge. 

Grand Sires of the G.L.U.S. and S.G.L. — From 1825 to 
1833, Thomas Wildey, of Maryland, the founder. He was 
born in London, January 15, 1783, and died at Baltimore, 
October 19, 186 1. 

The date with each of the following names shows when the 
brother was installed as Grand Sire. Beside these, James L. 
Ridgely was elected Grand Sire in 1836 and in 1840, but 
declined before the time of installation. Those marked with a 
star (*) are dead: 1833, James Gettys,- D.C. ; 1835, George 
Keyser,-^' Md. ; 1837, Samuel H. Perkins,--* Pa. ; 1839, Zenas 
B. Glazier,-'<- Del.; 1841, John A. Kennedy,- N.Y. ; 1843,, 
Howell Hopkins,-'^ Pa. ; 1845, Thomas Sherlock, Ohio; 1847, 



ILLINOIS ODD-FELLOWS' CODE. 318 

Hum R. Kneass,-^ Pa. ; 1849, Robert H. Grifiin,^Hja. ; 1851, 
Wm. W. Moore, D.C. ; 1853, Wilmot G. DeSaussure, S.C. ; 
1855, Wm. Ellison,- Mass.; 1857, Geo. AY. Race,- La. ; 1858, 
Samuel Craighead, O. ; i860, Robert B. Eoylston,- S.C. [Pre- 
vented by the war from serving, his duties were performed by 
the D.G. Sire, Milton M. Herndon, Ind.] ; 1862, James B. 
Nicholson, Pa. ; 1864, Isaac M. Veitch, Mo.; 1868, James P. 
Sanders, N.Y.; 1868, Edward D. Farnswoith, Tenn.; 1870, 
Frederic D. Stuart, D.C. ; 1872, Cornelius A. Logan, Kan. ; 
1874, Milton J. Durham, Ky. ; 1876, John W. Stokes, Pa.; 
1878, John B. Harmon, Cal. ; 1880, Luther J. Glenn, Ga. 

Grand Secretaries G.L.U.S. and S.G.L. — At organization 
in 1825, AYilliam AYilhams ; 1828, John J. Roach; 1829, John 
Starr, protein.; Augustus Mathiot, elected; 1833, Samuel 
Pryor ; 1 835, Robert Neilson ; 1838, \Ym. G. Cook; 1840, Wm. 
G. Cook, Recording Secretary, and James Iv. Ridgely, Corre- 
sponding Secretary ; 1 841, James L. Ridgely, Corresponding and 
Recording Secretary. Owing to the infirmities of Bro. Ridgely, 
Theo. A. Ross, of New Jersey, was appointed Assistant Grand 
Secretary in 1874, \^hich place he fills to the present time, 
August, 1882. James Lot Ridgely was born January 27, 1807, 
and died November 16, 1881, at his birthplace, Baltimore. He 
entered the Order in 1829, the Grand Lodge of Maryland in 
1830, and the Sovereign Grand Lodge in 1831. 

The first Grand Chaplain was appointed in the S.G.L. (then 
G.L.U.S.) in 1835 : the first Grand Marshal the same year. In 
1837, the office of Grand Messenger was created; John E. 
Chamberlain was appointed, and filled the office till 1872. 

Places of Meeting. — In Baltimore regularly, unless other- 
wise ordered. Sessions elsewhere: Philadelphia, June, 1833; 
Washington, January, 1834; New York, August, 1834: these 
three were special sessions. In Philadelphia, 1839, 1853; Cin- 
cinnati, 1850; Nashville, i860; Boston, 1864; New York, 
1867; San Francisco, 1869; Chicago, 1871 ; Atlanta, 1874; 
Indianapolis, 1875; Philadelphia, 1876; Toronto, 1880 ; Cin- 
cinnati, 1 88 1. The meeting of 1878 w^as appointed at Austin, 
Texas, but was called at Baltimore by the Grand Sire. 

2. Grand Lodge of Illinois. 

The First Lodge in Illinois was Western Star, No. i, at 
Alton, organized August 11, 1836. The next, Alton, No. 2, at 



314 ILLINOIS ODD-FELLOWS' CODE. 

•the same place, organized by P.G. Sire Wildey, July, 1838. 
Prior to the organization of the Grand Lodge, P.G. Sire Wildey 
granted warrants for Lodges Nos. 3, 4 and 5, and organized Nos. 
4 and 5. He returned to Alton, and organized the Grand Lodge 
there on Wednesday, August 22, 1838. By neglect of its mem- 
bers and the defunction of subordinates, the Grand Lodge was 
virtually dissolved in 1840, the last obtainable record of its exist- 
ence dating May 14, 1840, when it granted a dispensation for 
Sangamon Lodge, No. 6. 

In 1842, by act of the Sovereign Grand Lodge, it was re- 
moved to Springfield and reorganized, March i6th, 1842, since 
which it has remained at work regularly. 

Meetings. — Until 1847, the Grand Lodge held regular quar- 
terly meetings, having the annual communication while at 
Alton in August, fourth Monday. In 1846, the constitudon was 
amended to require semi-annual meetings, with the annual meet- 
ing on the second Monday of July. The constitution of 1847 
provided only for one regular annual session, in July, fourth 
Tuesday. In 1850, the time was altered to the second Tuesday 
of October. In 1 878, it met on the third Tuesday of November, 
which is now the regular time. 

Places OF Meeting. — Before 1842, at Alton. From 1842, 
at Springfield, until the location was changed to Peoria. At 
Peoria in 1848, 1849, i^SO- Removed back to Springfield, 1851. 
Made movable: sessions at Pekin, 1852; Chicago, 1853; 
Quincy, 1854; Jacksonville, 1855; Peoria, 1856; Decatur, 
1857; Freeport, 1858; then fixed at Springfield. In 1863 
made movable again, going in 1864 to Chicago ; 1865, Bloom- 
ington; 1866, Galena; 1867, Centralia; 1868, Alton; 1869,' 
Quincy; 1 870, Mattoon ; 1 87 1, Ottawa; 1872, Rock Island; 
1873, Springfield; 1874, Chicago; 1875, Peoria; 1876, Jack- 
sonville; 1877, Belleville; 1878, Springfield; 1879, Gales- 
burg; 1880, Danville; 1 88 1, Springfield ; 1882, Chicago. 

Grand Masters. — Those marked '^ are known to be dead : 
probably some not so marked, who have removed from the 
jurisdiction, are also dead. 1838, Samuel C. Peirce,^ of No. i. 
1839, Alex. Botkin,-^ of No. 2. 1842, Eli Cook, No. 6. 1843, 
Thos. J. Burns,-^ No. 6. 1844, J. C. Doremus, No. 6; J. L. 
Peake,^ No. 6, to fill vacancy. 1845, Thomas Alsop, No. 6. 
1846, Stevens S. Jones,'^ No. 14. 1847, William M. Parker, 



ILLINOIS ODD-FELLOWS' CODE. 315 

No. 7. 1848, Chas. H. Constable,* No. 35. 1849, Geo. W. 
Woodward, No. 17. 1850, D. P. Wilbanks,* No. 19; Isaac G. 
Wilson, No. 47, fills vacancy. 1851, Henry L. Rucker,* No. 11. 
1852, John W. Davenport,"'^ No. ^'^, 1853, Wm. Rounseville,-^' 
No. 14. 1854, Jas. E. Starr, No. 2. 1855, Perry A. Arm- 
strong, No. 75. 1856, Augustus C. Marsh,* No. 36. 1857, 
Willis Duff Green, No. 13. 1858, Harrison W. Griswold, 
No. 30. 1859, B. J. F. Hanna, No. 57. i860, Jeremiah 
Griswold, No. 250. 1861, Henry S. Austin, No. 109 
1862, Harman G. Reynolds, No. 6. 1863, John G. Rogers 
No. 22. 1864, Amasa Stetson Barry, No. 2. 1865, Joseph R 
Scroggs,* No. 30. 1866, Henry S. Herr, No. 77. 1867 
Jediah F. Alexander,* No. 3. 1868, J. Ward Ellis, No. 22^ 
1869, Ellis, reelected. 1870, Thomas B. Needles, No. 37, 

1871, John C. Smith, No. 17. 1872, Fredolin Bross, No. 224, 

1873, Thomas F. Mitchell, No. 77. 1874, E. B. Sherman, No 
214. 1875, J<^^i^ H. Oberly, No. 224. 1876, Amos Hender- 
son, No. 4. 1877, John Lake, No. 140. 1878, Alfred Oren- 
dorff. No. 465. 1879, A. W. Berggren, No. 446. 1880, James 
S. Ticknor, No. 31. 1881, Alonzo EUwood, No. 105. 

Deputy Grand Masters. — Those marked f have also been 
elected Grand Master, or have been members of the Sovereign 
Grand Lodge. 

1838, Alex. Botkin;f 1839, A. W. Chenoweth ; 1842, short 
term, Wm. D. Mitchell ; 1842, Christopher Giles Yates Taylor ;f 
1843, Joseph wSturgis ; 1844, J. L. Peakef and M. F. Wick- 
ersham ; 1845, H- Gooding, Stevens S. Jones ;-j- 1846, Thos. 
Elmes; 1847, W. J. Taylor; 1848, F. Scammon ; 1849, D. P. 
Wilbanks;f 1850^ 'Isaac G. Wilson ;f 1851, Isaac S. Hicks ;t 
1852, John Filkins; 1853, Chas. P. Dunbaugh ;f 1854, Allen 
C. Lewis;! 1855, B. J. F. Hanna ;f 1856, Gustavus A. 
Smith; 1857, Geo. F. Crocker ; 1858,0. P. Hatheway; 1859, 
John P. Foss;f i860, Joel W. Smull; 1861, A. B. Austin; 
1862, J. R. Scroggs;t 1863, W. W. Winter; 1864, John Lake ;t 
1865, J. F. Alexander;! 1866, Edward A. Rucker ;t 1867, 
Amos Watts; 1868, T. Warren Floyd; 1869, Thomas F. 
Mitchell; 1870, Richard H. Jordan; 1871, Samuel A. Flagler; 

1872, Washington L. Sweeney ;f 1873, Albert G. Wolford; 

1874, W. A. Welsher; 1875, Thomas M. Blake ; 1876, Michael 
W. Piggott; 1877, Augustus W. Berggren ;f 1878, Andrew T. 



316 ILLINOIS ODD-FELLOWS' CODE. 

vShemian ; 1879, Alonzq Ellwood ;f 1880, James R. Miller; 
1 88 1, Columbus A. Keller. 

Grand Wardens. — 1838, David P. Berry; 1839, Dan'l 
Ward ; 1842, Michael Rapp ; 1843, J- L. Peake ; 1844 and 1845, 
M. F. Wickersham; 1846, W. M. Parker; 1847, Morris Lind- 
say; 1848, John M. Law; 1849, J- J- Lescher ; 1850, PL A. 
Foster; 1851, David B. Jackson ; 1852, John W. Shinn ; 1853, 
Albert G. Wolford ; 1854, R. Lockwood; 1855, Tyler J. Irish; 
1856, H. W. Griswold; 1857, W. R. Weld; 1858, C. E. R. 
Winthrop; 1859, A. H. Marschalk ; i860, Lewis W.Smith; 
1861, Albert G. Lull; 1862, W. W. Winter, 1863, A. J. 
Sprague ; 1864, Isaac W. Baldwin; 1865 and 1866, John A. 
Bush; 1867, W. F. Kelsch ; 1868, T. B. Needles; 1869, F. 
Bross; 1870, Charles W. Heaton ; 1871, James PL Miller; 
1872, John H. A^oung; 1873, Andrew L. Sherman; 1874, 
Thomas M. Blake ; 1875, John F. Drish ; 1876, A. W. Berggren ; 
1877, R. B. Foster; 1878, Robert K. Dewey; 1879, Robert 
H. Flannigan ; 1880, Columbus A. Keller ; 1881, E. F. Phelps. 

Grand Secretaries. — 1838, Samuel L. Miller;"- 1839, 
Alfred Shannon;! 1842, Thos. J. Burns;-' 1843, Lucien 13. 
Adams ;f 1846, John F. Ruhe;f 1847, Stephen A. Corneau,^^' 
serves /;'6' teiii. and is elected; 1856, Samuel Willard ; 1862, 
James E. Starr, P.G.M.; 1864, Samuel Willard; 1869T Nathan- 
iel C. Nason. 

''■•Dead. fNot now members in Illinois. 

Grand Treasurers. — 1838, John M. Krum ; 1839, I^hn^ 
R. W^oods; 1842, Morris Lindsay; 1844, P.G.M. Eli Cook; 
Jotham S. Rogers; C. G. Saunders; 1845, I'.G.M. John L. 
Peake; 1846, N. W. Matheny declines; J. L. Peake again; 
1848, Herman E. Blakeley ; John G. Ives to fill vacancy ; 1849, 
John G.Ives; 1855, James Jackson; 1864, P.G.M. James E. 
Starr; 1867, P.G.M. Amasa S. Barry. 

Grand Representatives. — Elected 1839, Samuel Pryor, 
proxy; 1840, August Mathiot, proxy; 1842, James Earnest, 
proxy ; 1843, same ; 1844, W^m. S. Stewart, proxy ; 1846, Thos. 
Alsop;-'^ 1847, S. S. Jones;- 1848, H. E. Roberts, W^m. M. 
Parker;-^ C. G. Y. TaylorJ vice Parker, resigned; 1849, C. H. 
Constable, ■^^'' John G. Pottsf vice Roberts, resigned ; 1850, G. W. 
W^oodward ;^"" S. A. Corneau (Grand Secretary) J vice Constable ; 
185 1, I. G. Wilson,-^'- Horace F. Ash; Wm. RounsevilleJ went 



ILLINOIS ODD-FELLOWS' CODE. 317 

vice Wilson ; Ash resifrned ; 1852, H. L. Rucker,"^ Wm. Rounse- 
ville vice Wilson; but the G.L.U.S. gave the seat to Wilson ; 
1853, H. S. Austin; 1854, Wm. Rounseville ;- 1855, Jas. E. 
Starr,*'^ Geo. W. Woodward^ vice Rounseville ; 1856, P. A. 
Armstrong;- 1857, A. C. Marsh;- 1858, W. Duff Green ;- 
1859, H. W. Griswold ;- i860, Green and Griswold resigned; 
James E. Starr- and John G. Pottsf were appointed to the 
vacancies; i860, B. J. F. Hanna ;- 1861, Jeremiah Griswold;- 
1862, E. A. Rucker; 1863, Jere. Griswold;- 1864, John P. 
Foss; 1865, J. Griswold; 1866, J. R. Scroggs,- A. G. LullJ 
vice Griswold, resigned, Samuel WillardJ (Grand wSecretary) 
vice Scroggs, deceased; 1867, John G. Rogers- vice Scroggs 
deceased, H. S. Herr;- 1868, J. F. Alexander;- 1869, John 
G. Rogers,"^^" resigned; Daniel L. Shorey;J 1870, J. Ward 
Ellis- (two years); Louis Furst ; 1871, Thomas B. Needles ;- 
1872, John C. Smith;- 1873, T. B. Needles;- 1874, Thos. F. 
Mitchell;- 1875, E. B. Sherman;- 1876, John H. Oberly;- 
1877, Amos Henderson;- 1878, John Lake;- 1879, Alfred 
Orendorff;- 1880, John Lake;- 1881, Alfred Orendorff.- 

="•■• Past Grand Master, f P.G.M. of Grand Lodge of Pennsylvania. 
X Appointed, not elected. 

. The following named brothers have been members of the 
S.G.L. from Illinois as Representatives from the Grand En- 
campment, and are to be recognized in our records or in our 
Lodges as Past Grand Representatives : Bros. John C. Smith, 
Samuel Willard, J. F. Alexander (deceased), John G. Potts 
(deceased), and H. S. Herr, who are in the list above; also 
Amasa S. Barry, P.G.M. and G. Treas., Isaac S. Hicks (de- 
ceased), N. H. Dearborn, W. W. Danenhower, H. G. Anderson, 
N. P. Iglehart (deceased), Allen C. Lewis (deceased), David 
Simms (deceased), A. S. Babcock, Robert D. Landers, Charles 
Perkins (deceased), J. S. Ticknor, J. O. Harris, N. C. Nason, 
Jacob Krohn, Washington L. Sweeney, D. D. Hatfield, C. W. 
Heaton, Vv'm. H. Crocker and Walter E. Carlin. T. Warren 
Floyd was elected in 1875, but died before his credentials were 
presented. 

Charters granted. — At or before annual meeting of 1838, 
Nos. 1-5; 1840, No. 6; 1842, Nos. 7 and 8 ; 1844, No. 9; 
1845, Nos. 10-14; 1 846, Nos. 15-20; 1847, Nos. 21-31 ; 1848, 
Nos.j||2-42 ; 1849, ^^o''- 43-56; 1850, Nos. 57-76; i85i,Nos. 



318 ILLINOIS ODD- FELL O WS' CODE. 

77-98; 1852, Nos. 99-114; 1853, Nos. II5-134; 1854, Nos. 
135-162; 1855, Nos. 163-189; 1856, Nos. 190-215; 1857, 
Nos. 216, 244, 246; 1858, Nos. 245, 247-265; 1859, Nos. 
266-280; i860, Nos. 281-291 ; 1861, Nos. 292-297; 1862, 
Nos. 298-303; 1863, Nos. 304-306; 1864, Nos. 307-311 ; 
1865, Nos. 312-321 ; 1866, Nos. 322-339; 1867, Nos. 340- 
356; 1868, Nos. 357-378; 1869, Nos. 379-407; 1870, Nos. 
408-440; 1 87 1, Nos. 441-466; 1872, Nos. 467-499; 1873, 
Nos. 500-531; 1874, Nos. 532-560; 1875, Nos. 561-594; 
1876, Nos. 595-628; 1877, Nos. 629-646; 1878, Nos. 647- 
657; 1879, Nos. 658-666; 1880, Nos. 667-685; 1881, Nos. 
686-699. 

Greatest number in any one year, 34 in 1875 "^^^ ^^ same in 
1876; but there were 33 in 1870. Least number since 1844, 3 
in 1863. 

Membership in successive years, as reported to the 
Sovereign Grand Lodge. — 1838, No. i, 47; 1839, G. Lodge, 
97; 1840, 1841, no reports; 1842, 143; 1843, 190; 1844, no 
reports; 1 845, 223; 1 846, 690; 1 847, 1,004; 1848, 1,720; 
1849, 2,518; 1850, 3,291; 1851, 4,035; 1852, 4,787; 1853, 
5,205; 1854,6,676; 1855,8,308; 1856,9,832; 1857,11,044; 
1858,10,549; 1859, 10,562; i860, 9,810; 1861,8,031; 1862, 
6,248; 1863,6,836; 1864, 7,390; 1865, 8,553; 1866,10,512'; 
1867, 12,191; 1868, 14,407; 1869, 15,040; 1870, 16,887; 
1871 (June 30), 18,566; close of 1871, 19,287; 1872, 21,797; 
1873,23,352; 1874,25,195; 1875,26,686; 1876,26,812; 1877, 
26,042; 1878,25,459; 1879,25,932; 1880,28,008. 

Digests. — The first Digest ordered by the Grand Lodge was 
ordered in 1852 to be made by the Grand Secretary; but that 
officer, S. A. Corneau, took one made by Rep. Willard, of 43, 
which was appended to the Journal of 1852, and is now in the 
Revised Journal, Vol. I, without change except in its references 
to the Journals. This is the work referred to as the Illinois 
Digest in Journals of 1853 and 1854. 

A revision of this was, by order of the Grand Lodge, ap- 
pended to the Journal of 1854, made by the same person. This 
is the one referred to in the Journal of 1855. It is not now to 
be had. 

The constitution having been considerably amended in 1855, 
Rep. Willard prepared another revision of the first Digest, 
which was appended to the Journal of that year. T\m is the 



ILLINOIS ODD-FELLOIVS' CODE. 319 

one referred to in Journals of 1856 to 1863 inclusive. The 
edition of the Journal of 1855 was long ago exhausted, and 
this Digest cannot be had. 

In 1857, P.G. Edward L. Norton, of No. 163, prepared a 
more extensive work, known as the Odd-Fellows^ Code, or 
Norton's Code. The edition of this was exhausted within two 
years. It is referred to in the Journals of 1857 and later. It 
\\'as not an official work, but a private entei*prise. 

In 1863, G. Secretary Starr proposed that the Grand Lodge 
have a new and very elaborate Digest prepared by Past Grand 
Secretaiy Samuel Willard, the same who prepared the others, 
and that it be issued in book form, for sale. This being enacted, 
the Digest was prepared during the following year, and pre- 
sented at the session of 1864; it is referred to in the Journals 
of 1864 and later years as the Illinois Digest, or Willard^ s 
Digest. Its title* is " Digest of the Laws of the I.O.O.F., for 
Illinois." An edition of 1,500 (beside a copy to every Lodge 
in the Journal of 1863) was completely exhausted in October, 
1869. Sundry movements for a new edition i-esulted, in 1870, 
in an agreement of the Grand Lodge with P.G. Rep. Edward 
A. Rucker for the preparation and publication of another 
Digest. The fatal illness of that eminent brother prevented his 
writing the book ; and a committee, Past Grand Masters Rogers, 
Ellis and Needles, empowered by the Grand Lodge in 1871,. 
employed P.G. Secretary Willard to prepare the desired Digest, 
which is known in the Journals of 1873 ^^^ later as the Fifth 
Illinois Digest, or Willard^ s Fifth Digest. 

At the session of 1879, Grand Master Orendorfif suggested 
the need of a new Digest or Codification of the Laws, the prepa- 
ration of which was in the course of the next year entrusted 
to Brother Willard. The result is this volume, which differs 
from the preceding Digests in this : that it is, so far as concerns 
laws and decisions of the Grand Lodge of Illinois, a Code, 
enacted as such, with repeal of all laws and decisions not 
herein contained. (See the page opposite Chapter I, Sec. i, of 
this book.) 

Volumes of the Journal. — The Journals of the Grand 
Lodge from organization to 1852 inclusive, were revised and 
reprinted, bv order of the Grand Lodge, in i860: these form 
Vol. L 



320 ILLINOIS ODD-FELLOWS* CODE. 

The Journals of 1853-4-5-6-7 are not yet revised and re- 
printed ; but, in anticipation of such action, they are reckoned 
as making Vol. II, but not referred to as such in the Digest. 

Vol. Ill, uniform in style with the reprinted Vol. I, begins 
with the Journal of 1858, and ends with that of 1865. 

Vol. IV began with the Journal of 1866, and ended with 
1870. 

Vol. V began with the Journal of 1871, and ended with that 
of 1875. 

Vol. VI began with the Journal of 1876, and ended with that 
of 1880. 

Vol. VU began with the Journal of. 1881. 

3. History of the Degrees. 

The degrees in use at the founding of the Order in America 
were three, the White, Blue and Scarlet. In 1820 two degrees, 
called the Intermediate, now the Covenant and Remembrance, 
were prepared by John P. Entwistle, and were adopted by the 
Committee of Past Grands, acting as a Grand Lodge. {Sov. 
43.) In the first constitution of the Grand Lodge of Maryland 
and the United States, the White, Blue and Scarlet are called the 
1st, 2d and 3d degrees; the (jolden Rule is called the 4th degree, 
and was conferred in Grand Lodge for the fee of one dollar. 
There was some P.G.'s Degree, as any brother coming in as a 
member was to work his way in part ''by the sign of a P.G."; 
there was also a G.L. Degree, as the G.W. and G.C. were to 
instruct the admitted member "in the signs, etc." [Sov. \^\ 
Arts. 5 and 16.) Further recognition of the Past Grand's De- 
gree is in 1823 [Sov. 52), in the requisition that each member 
shall give the P.G.'s sign and password before admission. In- 
stances of the conferring of the Remembrance Degree in the 
(jrand Lodge appear in 1823 (^Sov. 59, 61). The other past-official 
degrees appear in the resolution that "the past elective officers 
can receive their respective passwords at the time of the quar- 
terly meeting to settle accounts" {Sov. 64). The Royal-Purple 
Degree first appears in 1825, called the 5th degree ; and its color 
was put upon G.L. charters before it had. been received and 
given to those authorized to receive it. The Patriarchal Degree 
next appears, September 25, 1825, in the record that " P. G. Mc- 
Kormick received a degree while at Manchester which he was 
authorized to confer on G.M. Wildey and D.G.M. Welch; 



ILLINOIS ODD-FELLOWS' CODE. 321 

which duty he had performed." For this degree a fee of one dol- 
lar was charged by the G.L.U.S. (^Sov. 78). Thus the Patriarchal, 
G.R. and R.P. degrees were conferred in G.L., and given with 
a Grand Charter {^Sov. 80). In exchange for these new English 
degrees, the Americans presented to the A.M.C. (Annual Mov- 
able Committee, or Grand Lodge) of the M.U. (Manchester 
Unity) the Covenant, Remembrance and G.L. Degrees, of which 
they rejected the latter (ySov. 91). A body was organized June 
14, 1827, to confer the P., G.R. and R.P. Degrees, called the 
" Encampment Lodge," which was the first Encampment. The 
G.E. Degree was adopted in 1842, and at the same time certain 
"side degrees" for Encampments, viz : the past-official degrees 
of P.C.P. and P.H.P. [Sov. 490) ; but in 1844 these P.O.D.'s 
were abolished {^Sov. 664, 675, 688). The Rebekah Degree 
was adopted in 185 1 {^Sov. 1793-4). The statement that the 
Sovereign Grand Lodge sits in the R.P.D. is simply from the 
fact that that is the highest degree its members are required to 
attain. 

The names of the several degrees of a Lodge until 1880 
were these : First or White Degree ; Second or Covenant De- 
gree ; Third or Royal Blue Degree ; Fourth or Remembrance 
Degree ; and Fifth or Scarlet Degree. 

In 1880 the degrees were revised and reduced to three^in the 
Subordinate Lodge, as named in Sec. 846 ; and the initiatory 
and Encampment work were changed. 

4. History of Legislation on Non-Payment of Dues. 

Non-payment of dues first appears in the Journal of the 
S.G.L. in 1834 (p. 181), in the list of expulsions, as a cause 
thereof: "arrearages of dues of more than one year." Next 
year (p. 208), the present phrase appears in a similar list. In 
1838, G. Sire Wildey speaks of it as an injury to the prosperity 
of Lodges (270). The first legislation on the subject occurs in 
1845 (S09) : after stating that a member had been suspended 
during the pleasure of the Lodge for N.P.D., the report says 
that the term of suspension was indefinite, and such form of 
penalty was recognized generally in the Order as legal. It was 
then decided that a G.L. might terminate an indefinite sus- 
pension for N.P.D. without the consent of the Lodge concerned ; 
and a proposition to declare indefinite suspension illegal was 

22 



.322 ILLINOIS ODD-FELLOWS' CODE. 

negatived. In 1850 (1575, 1655), decided, that suspension for 
N.P.D. is a means of punishment: and thereafter this matter 
was the subject of not infrequent decisions and legislation, all 
of which that is still in force is given in this Code. 

In 1857, the Const. S.G.L. was altered so as to give the 
Grand Bodies on the Pacific permission to admit to member- 
ship, without their previously obtaining reinstatement, persons 
resident in their jurisdictions who had previously been sus- 
pended for N.P.D. only in other jurisdictions. Propositions to 
make the law general at the same time failed (2662-3 ; 2777-9 \ 
2799, amending Art. XVI, 4). In 1865 (3848-9) this Pacific 
proviso was stricken out and another adopted in place of it, 
which allowed any jurisdiction, upon leave obtained from the 
S.G.L. , to admit members suspended in other jurisdictions for 
N.P.D. and members of defunct Lodges, certain restrictions 
being added (Sov. 3848-9). 

At the session of 1865, and the succeeding ones, many 
jurisdictions signified, as required on p. 3854, or otherwise 
(3948, 3951, 3962), their wish for the privileges of Art. 
XVI, 4, which was granted : none ever renounced it. The 
S.G.L. had previously (in 1857, p. 2736) referred the making 
of laws for reinstatement after suspension for N.P.D. to the 
local legislation of Grand Bodies. It next (in 1868, p. 4397) 
prohibited expulsion for N.P.D. 

Meanwhile, the variety of practice under the above amend- 
ment proving unsatisfactory, various legislation was proposed, 
pages 3982, 3993-4, 4189, 4354 and 4421, 4397, 4422, and 
4632. In 1870, a special committee proposed certain general 
laws (Sec. 756 of this Code) which seemed to make a settle- 
ment of the whole matter, and to make unnecessary the proviso 
of the S.G.L. Const. XVI, 4. 

In 1872, the whole of S.G.L. Const. XVI, 4, as it then stood, 
was stricken out and a new section adopted, as follows : A 
member of the Order suspended or expelled from a Lodge or 
Encampment in any jurisdiction or sovereignty shall not be 
admitted to membership in a Lodge or Encampment in another 
jurisdiction or sovereignty, without the previously-obtained con- 
sent of the Lodge or Encampment from which he is suspended 
or expelled : F7'ovided, however, that members suspended or 
dropped for the non-payment of dues only may be admitted to 
membership in another jurisdiction or sovereignty upon such 



ILLINOIS ODD-FELLOWS' CODE. 323 

conditions and under such rules and regulations as this Grand 
Lodge may have prescribed, or may at any time adopt. 

Upon the adoption of this section, the privilege granted by 
the proviso of 1865 expired by repeal of the law authorizing 
it ; and with it expired all legislation to complete and enforce 
it and all decisions explaining it; and as the " General Laws of 
1870" are not "conditions, rules or regulations for admitting 
to membership in one jurisdiction members suspended in an- 
other for N.P.D.," but are principally rules on reinstatements 
and withdrawals, it follows that, upon the adoption of this 
amendment, there were no laws on the subject named in the 
proviso, and will be none until further enactment. 

In 1879, the General Laws of 1870, with their modifications, 
were superseded by what was called the " Dormant Law," 
which called all members suspended for N.P.D. " Dormant 
Members." The original plan of the proposer of the Dormant 
Law was to allow such members to visit their Lodges, to revive 
their interest in the Order; but this did not pass. The Dor- 
mant Law had no provision for dismissal certificates, nor for 
reinstatement for any definite amount (Sov. 7712, 7818, 8034, 
8056, 8099, 8100, 8121-2). In 1880, the Dormant Law, 
having failed as an experiment for a single year, was repealed, 
and the laws of 1870 with some slight changes were restored as 
they stood a year before, as given in Sec. 756 of this Code. 

Expulsion for N.P.D. has been illegal throughout the Order 
since September, 1868; in Illinois, since October, i860. In 
1868, the S.G.L. required State Grand Bodies to prohibit it, 
and itself forbade it by the general law of 1870. 

The Grand Lodge of Illinois in i860 adopted a law for 
dropping members for N.P.D., and forbidding expulsion and 
the use of the term suspension in such cases. 

Before the adoption of this law, brothers falling in arrears for 
one year were suspended or expelled, at the option of the Lodge ; 
if suspended, the suspension was always indefinite, and could 
be terminated by the suspended membg: at any time by pay- 
ment of all arrears, or, if the Lodge chose, by payment of one 
year's dues. There was considerable legislation and adjudica- 
tion upon the subject of non-payment and the powers of the 
Lodge concerning it, nearly all of which is obsolete, and there- 
fore is not quoted. The Illinois Digest of 1855 (especially 
Sec. 116) will give the reader the law and references to most of 



324 ILLINOIS ODD-FELLOWS' CODE. 

the legislation up to that time. Dropping is in effect only a 
special mode of suspension for N.P.D. 

Aprons. — Prior to vSeptember, 1868, the apron was part of 
the regalia of the Order for every rank, office and degree, except 
for Grand Representatives and for ladies of the Rebekah De- 
gree : by legislation of that year it was abolished, except in the 
initiatory grade of the Lodges, and in the P. and G.R. Degrees 
of the Encampment. In 1881 it was abolished in the Initiatory. 

U.S. Digest of 1847, pp. 27-30; U.S. 18, 19; By-Law U.S. 
XXV before 1868; or 111. Digest of 1864, Sees. 295-6, 
601, not in this Code. 

Constitution for Subordinates.— The first uniform con- 
stitution for subordinates was prepared by Bros. Geo. W. Wood- 
ward, Stevens S. Jones and Edward A. Rucker, in 1847, ^^^ 
adopted at the annual session of that year (111. I, 103-5, 332). 
There was no general revision of this till 1873 • ^"^ ^^55? ^ ^^^ 
system of trials was put in as Art. VI (1855, 116), and in i860, 
dropping for N.P.D. (Ill, 191). Other amendments were 
occasional. In 1863 a new revision was made by a committee 
(V, 233), Bros. Samuel Willard, N. C. Nason, Geo. W. Wood- 
ward, E. B. Sherman, and A. W. Berggren. Their work 
(^> 365~379) l^y over for one year and was adopted (V, 586-7); 
and this, with slight changes, is the present constitution. A 
table in the Appendix shows how to find all its articles in the 
several chapters of this Code. 

The Model Code and By-Laws of Lodges. — At the ses- 
sion of the Grand Lodge of Illinois in 1857, a committee was 
appointed, consisting of G. Sec'y Willard, P.G. Rep. Barry and 
P.G. Edward L. Norton, to draw up a code of by-laws for the use 
of subordinates : it was the intention only to place before the 
Lodges a code which they might make the basis of their own 
codes, or adopt with no change but filling blanks. The code, 
since known as " The Model Code," was published in the spring 
of 1858 : it was approved and recommended by the Grand Lodge 
that year, and extensively adopted. The committee prepared 
as a part of it a code of Rules of Order, and a brief appendix of 
general laws. (See Journal of 1857, pp. 8, 38, 73 ; Vol, III, p. 
30. The Committee on Revision in 1873 prepared a new Model 
Code suited to the Revised Constitution (V, 375), with Rules of 
Order. 



ILLINOIS ODD-FELLOWS' CODE, 325 

In 1848 (111. I, 152), the correction and approval of by-laws 
was referred to P.G. E. A. Rucker, since G. ^ep. and D.G.M., 
and his action was accepted in advance. In 1856 and 1857 
(1856, p. 119; 1857, p. 84), similarly, a large number of codes 
was examined by G. Sec'y Willard, the reports being previ- 
ously given the force of law. In all other cases in Illinois the 
reports have been passed upon by the Grand Lodge. 



APPENDIX VI. 



References to Journals, Grand Lodge of Illinois. 

In the body of this Code, when the law is an enactment or 
decision of the Grand Lodge of Illinois, no reference is attached 
to the section. The following table shows the source of each 
enactment : 



Sec. Vol. and Page of Journal. 

77 III, 195; I, 295. 

79 IV, 408. 

80 VI, 133; VII, 143; IV, 200. 

81 III, 120; V, 39, 590; I, 141. 

82 III, 91 ; V, 387. 
85 VI, 1030, 997. 
88 VI, 982. 

93 I, 117-18; 1854, 69. 

94 1853, 72. 
121 1856, 25. 
127 V, 571. 

145 IV, 46, 165, 325; V, 93. 

146 IV, 182. 

150 I, 180. 

151 IV, 289. 

153 111,189,200,249; 1856,25. 

161 VI, 158; V, 591. 

164 III, 87. 

165 IV, 245; VII, 147-8. 
173 I, 175 ; VII, 116. 
176 VII, 80. 

188 VI, 627. 

191 VII, 137. 

192 V, 137. 
194 III, 419. 

197 1855, 136, 182. 

199 III, 167; G. Sec'y's instruc- 

tions. 

200 III, 261. 

202 III, 161 ; 1853, 70. 

209 III, 507, 512 ; IV, 313 ; VI, 341. 

211 III, 268. 

212 III, 517. 

213 III, 517. 



Sec. Vol. and Page of Journal. 

215 VI, 125, 1012. 

216 1855, 108 ; V, 744. 

217 III, 157-8; VI, 78. 

218 V, 572 ; VI, 1026. 
220 1857, 83 ; V, 49, 73. 
225 1856, 182, 70. 

228 VI, 915. 

229 1853, 67; 1856, 117, 176; IV, 

6; V, 687; VI, 912. 

231 III, 158. 

232 VI, 29 ; I, 302, 

233 Sub. Const., V, 4 ; Journal, V, 

687. 

235 VI, 29. 

236 VI, 912. 

237 1856, 21. 
240 V, 315, 682. 
242 IV, 153, 459. 

246 1856, 21, 173, 238. 

252 1854, 7, 53; III, 161; 1855, 
23. 

254 VI, 137. 

255 III, 161. 

256 I, 147; 1856, 176; VI, 705. 

257 Note, 1855, 23. 

258 III, 161 ; I, 174. 

259 I, 146; 1856, 117, 226, 232. 
263 1856, 59 ; 1854, 45. 

266 III, 419. 

267 I, 174, 283 : 1855, 85. 

269 1856, 118; IV, 378, and Sub. 

Const., Ill, 5, 6'. 

271 VII, 116. 

275 I, 251-2; III, 421 ; VI, 555. 



ILLINOIS ODD-FELLOWS' CODE. 



327 



Sec. 


Vol. and Page of Journal. 


Sec. 


Vol. and Page of Journal. 


277 


VII, 70. 






378 


IV, 10; V, 315, 404; VI, 241. 


278 


1856, 117; III, 158, 420. 




380 


V, 193. 


279 


i8s6, 181; III, 162. 






383 


Ill, 158. 


280 


IV, 467. 






385 


VII, 117. 


282 


I, 119, 146-7, 293. 






389 


Ill, 420, 443. 


286 


IV, 53- 






394 


Note, V, 481. 


288 


I, 302 ; V, 12. 






397 


VI, 79; 111,34; V, 13. 


289 


1856, 109, 127-8; I, 


119; 


VI, 


399 


VI, 33. 




706. 






400 


1856, 24; III, 79. 


290 


V, 137- 






401 


1853,30: 1856, 37; 1857, 164 


293 


1853, 49; IV, 198 ; 


V, 


485; 




III, 420. 




VI, 496. 






404 


I, 147 ; 1856, 20. 


295 


Ill, 421. 






406 


Note, 1856, 118. 


298 


IV, 10. 






409 


1856, 20, 44; VII, 117, 


299 


IV, 9, 34, 52. 






414 


111,486; VI, 497. 


300 


V,5o3, 759; I^j 53, 


150. 




416 


1856, 19. 


302 


VI, 497- 






417 


1,254; 1856,24; V, 138, 14. 


303 


IV, 4, 17, 31. 






418 


1856, 24. 


304 


Ill, 148. 






421 


I, 291 ; III, 484. 


305 


V,i3. 






422 


1857, 151; VI, 80. 


308 


1853, 30; VI, 913. 






425 


Ill, 517. 


314 


1855,62, 77; I, 251. 






427 


VI, 914-15. 


316 


I, 251- 






431 


1856, 182, 183. 


318 


1854, 7, 53 ; III, 161 


; V, 


313- 


432 


VI, 331, 821. 


320 


VI, 915. 






433 


VI, 72-76. 


323 


1856, 17; 1857, 43- 






436 


1856, 35, 186, 195; VI, 41. 


324 


III, 486. 






438 


1855, 127. 


328 


VI 70-72. 






441 


I, 147, 152, 294; III, 107, 78 


329 


VI, 70-72. 








161. 


330 


VI, 70-72. 






442 


VI, 981, 1018, 914. 


331 


Ill, 203. 






446 


VI, 915; IV, 29. 


332 


1857, 48, 74- 






448 


111,96; VI, 497. 


333 


1857, 50, 55. 






450 


Ill, 159. 


337 


1,208; III, 324. 






452 


1853, 70; IV, 200-201. 


338 


Commission; 111,486. 




453 


1855,25; 111,99,421; V, 315 


339 


1855, 25, 26. 






. 456 


a. 2. V, 137. 


341 


Sub. Const., V, 4 ; 
1856, 113. 


1855, 


24; 




6. VI, 822. 

7. Ill, 160. 


34S 


1854, 45 ; G. Sec'y' 


3 ins true - 




17. Ill, 420. 




tions. 






458 


a. I. Ill, 158, 160, 320; VI 


344 


VI, 912. VII, 116. 








125. 


345 


Ill, 159- 








3. Ill, 160. 


346 


III, 486. 








4. IV, 384. 


350 


IV, 53 ; VI, 1026. 








5. IV, 384. 


351 


VI, 496. 








Note, IV, 10; V, 78. 


353 


IV, 9; 1857, 191; vi 


, 102 


6. 


459 


VI, 69. 


354 


1, 178. 






460 


V, 136, 385. 


356 


Ill, 93 : V, 39. 






463 


Ill, 100. 


358 


Ill, 157. 






464 


1855, 123; IV, 200, 202. 


360 


VI, 641. 






465 


IV, 233. 


366 


Note, 1856, 118, 216. 






466 


IV, 128. 


370 


111,25; IV, 128; V, 


313- 




467 


IV, 199, 240, 436 ; VII, 96. 


373 


Note, V, 13, 91 ; VI, 


915. 




469 


111,160; IV, 382. 


376 


III, 106, 549 ; V, 342 


, 402 


687. 


470 


Ill, 157, 261. 



328 



ILLINOIS ODD-FELLOWS' CODE. 



Sec. Vol. and Page of Journal. 
471 III, 268, 421, 159; VI, 1021. 
Note, IV, 224, 467. 

473 IV, 409- 

474 III, 160. 

475 I, 210. 

Note, III, 522, 564. 

479 III. 517. 194, 

480 V, 137. 

485 III, 24. 

486 V, 14. 

490 IV, 234. 

491 V, 313. 

492 V, 13, 664. 

494 III, 549 ; V, 13. 

497 1853, 70; 1856, 20, 18 ; 1855, 24. 

499 I, 244, 301, 310; 1856, 43. 

505 111,160; 1856,225. 

511 1856, 23-24. 

514 1856, 19, 20, 128. 

516 1856,36; 1855,27; VI, 64. 

523 III, 549. 

524 IV, 8, 52 ; V, 307. 

527 1855, 24; III, 24. 

528 1,100; 1856,20,21. 

531 III, 443. 

532 VI, 247. 
534 IV, 194. 

537 Note, V, 166. 

540 V, 137. 

541 I, 301, 310; V, 82; 1853, 30- 
544 Last clause ; V, 219-220, 
546 III, 344, 158, 549- 

549 III, 159 ; V, 755 ; VI, 496, 582, 

800. 

554 1855, 68, 70, 23, 127; VI, 17. 

556 V, 683. 

560 VI, 32, 41. 

562 V, 13. 

564 Cl.1. VI, 497. 

5. VI, 785. 

10. VII, 107. 

Note, VI, 60, 785. 

565 CI. I. I, 311- 

2. 111,24. 

3. VI, 620. 

4. Ill, 485, 344. 

5. III, 292, 344, 420, 435, 

485. 
7. 1854, 51, 74. 
9. Ill, 247. 
10. V, 484, 553 ; VI, 495. 

13. IV, 200-201. 

14. V, 470. 

16. 1856, 190, 214. 



Sec. Vol. and Page of Journal. 

566 V, 14. 

570 1855, 109, 124; 1857, 156. 

571 Note, IV, 202. 

573 111,485. 

574 VI, 497. 

579 Note, V, 315. 

580 V, 74. 
584 VI, 799. 

586 V, 685 ; VI, 46, 68, 576, 914. 

587 VI, 617, 988. 

588 VI, 61, 6t. 

591 VI, 820. 

592 VI, 1026. 

593 V, 481. 

594 VI, 578, 497. 

595 III, 263-4; 1856, 232. 

596 VI, 582. 

598 III, 292, 320, 421. 

604 VI, 331. 

605 V,358. 

606 VI, 497; V, 311. 

607 VI, 582. 

611 1, 151; III, 182-3. 

614 I, 254. 

617 III, 247; V, 685. 

619 1856, 172. 

620 CI. 6. I, 254. 

11. Ill, 333. 

12. VI, 159. 

13. 111,485; 1856,218. 

14. 111,485. 

15. 1856, 208. 

621 VI, 327. 

622 1855, 126. 

627 CI. 1. 1856, 117. 

2. VI, 156. 

3. 1857, 159. 

4. 1856, 199, 217. 

5. I, 146; 1853, 12, 29. 

6. 1856, 172. 

7. 1856, 223. 

9. VI, 576, 580; note, 1855, 

96; 111,486,516. 
II. VI, 20. 
13. VI, 776. 
629 References in note. 

631 VI, 471. 

632 1856, 107. 

633 1856, 198. 

636 III, 549. 

637 III, 98. 
640 VI, 65. 

642 1856,22,43; 111,240. 

643 III, 160, 487. 



ILLINOIS ODD-FELLOWS' CODE. 



829 



Sec. Vol. and Page of Journal. 

645 III, 161 ; 1856, 43. 

648 III, 158. 

650 V, 751. 

652 VI, 156-7. 

653 V, 314. 

654 VI, 155. 

655 1856, 22; III, 24, 240, 162. 
659 VI, 476. 
664 V, 684; VI, 1026. 



664 V, 

665 1853, 79> 80, 81. 

666 1854, 69, 73 ; III, 95. 

668 1855, 72; 1857, 91; III, 
169 ; IV, 34. 

670 1856, 24, 42 ; 1857, 92 ; 

159; V, 686; VI, 471. 

671 V, 670; VI, 18. 

672 111,267; VI, 777. 

673 V, 310, 684. 

674 III, 240; IV, 240; V, 485. 
677 1,291-2; III, 158-9; IV, 

311; V, 12, 663; VII, 

679 V, 138. 

680 V, 678. 

681 V, 307. 

683 VI, 490. 

684 V, 686. 

685 V, 662-3. 
687 V, 13. 
690 IV, 240. 

693 VI, 31-2, 126. 

694 VI, 231. 
69s VI, 79. 

696 VI, 247. 

697 1,293; 1853,70; 1855,68. 

700 III, 180, 247. 

703 III, 162. 

706 V, 776. 

707 V, 674. 

708 V, 666. 

712 VI, 338. 

713 V, 483, 683, 358. 

714 V, 483. 

715 VII, 98. 

717 1853, 39. 40; III, 247. 

718 V, 313. 

719 III, 267. 

721 III, 267; VI, 1026. 

722 1857, 92 ; VI, 496. 

723 VI, 489. 

724 III, 158, 268. 

726 VI, 615-16. 

727 VI, 624; VII, 130, 131. 

729 1856, 117, 190, 214, 232. 

730 V, 77. 



159, 
III, 



Sec. Vol. and Page of Journal. 

733 VI, 40. 

734 III, 30, 161. 

735 VI, 57, 33. 

736 I, 145, 148, 150, 151. 

737 1856, 117. 

738 1856, 117, 180, 190. 

739 VI, 21, 22. 

740 III, 189, 161 ; 1856, 190. 

741 III, 485 ; V, 25. 

742 V, 306. ; 

743 V, 675. 

744 V, 663 ; VI, 242, 328. 

745 III, 159, 160. 

746 VI, 781, 576, 580. 

747 VI, 779, 577. 

748 III, 268. 

751 IV, 200, 240. 

752 Note ; V, 478, 553, VI, 55, 80. 

753 VI, 1026. 

754 VI, 255. 

755 VI, 915. 

760 III, 162, 203. 

762 V, 137. 

763 III, 487; V, 684. 

765 V, 799. 

766 V, 684. 

767 VI, 59, revised. 

768 V, 633, revised. 

770 VI, 496, 623. 

771 1856, 117. 
775 V, 683. 

783 V, 314, 386. 

784 V, 793-4. 

785 IV, 238; V, 793. 

790 1856, 19 ; VI, 496-7. 

791 Ci: I. I, 308. 

2. I, 308. 

.3. I, 308; VI, 709, 802, and 
Sub. Const., VII, 15. 

4. 111,98. 

5. VII, 117. 

6. VI, 913. 

7. 1855, 135, 182. 

8. 111,256; 1857, 92; IV, 

239-40. 

9. VI, 821. 

792 VI, 709, 802. 

793 VI, 685. 
795 VI, 914. 
801 III, 24. 
815 1855, 23. 

818 I, 209; III, 420. 

819 1855, 136. 

820 1856, 58. 



330 



ILLINOIS ODD-FELLOWS' CODE. 



Sec. 


Vol. and Page of Journal. 


Sec. 


Vol. and Page of Journal. 


821 


Ill, 162. 




q6i 


1856, 166-7. 


822 


1855, 24. 




962 


IV, 221. 


825 


in, 549. 




963 


VI, 127. 


828 


1855, 24. 




964 


1856, 167. 


829 


1853, 47-8. 




970 


VI, 821, 496. 


832 


1855, 22. 




971 


Ill, 159 ; 1856, 1J4, 115. 


837 


Ill, 162, 421, 444. 




973 


Ill, 100. 


849 


1856, 20. 




974 


Ill, 161. 


851 


IV, 202. 




975 


1,150; III, 160. 


852 


in, 159. 




978 


1, 146, 302 ; 1856, 117 ; III, 421. 


854 


Ill, 443. 




980 


1855,23; 1856, 118. 


855 


V, 484. 




981 


I, 220; III, 108, 193. 


857 


1, 119, 214. 




982 


1857, 94. 


862 


VII, 117. 




984 


IV, 383. 


872 


Ill, 162. 




985 


I, 150. 


880 


V, 138. 




987 


Ill, 44. 


881 


IV, 8. 




988 


V, 678. 


882 


VI, 496. 




990 


1854, 54. 


885 


IV, 300. 




991 


V, 202. 


887 


VI, 912. 




992 


VI, 705. 


889 


IV, 299. 




993 


1856,44, 57, 129; III, 159. 


890 


VI, 382. 




994 


VI, 233. 


892 


VI, 159,914. 




996 


IV, 128. 


900 


VI, 589. 




997 


I, 311 ; IV, 201, 241. 


901 


IV, 438. 




998 


VI, 79- 


904 


Ill, 161. 


/ 


1000 


VII, 117. 


908 


Note, V, 482, 553. 


lOOI 


1857, 94- 


909 


Note, V, 576. 




1003 


VI, 67. 


912 


Note, V, 313. 




1004 


1856, 93. 


924 


IV, 289. 




1009 


1856, 196. 


927 


I, 143- 




lOIO 


1856, 118, 107. 


930 


III, 159; 1854, (i^- 


8; IV, 237. 


lOII 


1856, 232. 


932 


III, 24. 




1012 


I, 148. 


937 


I, 166. 




1014 


IV, 49. 


943 


1856, 21 ; Sub. Const., xii, 2. 


1017 


Ill, 517, 523. 


946 


V, 385. 




1018 


1856, 118; III, 160; VI, 914 


949 


Ill, 548; 1855, 22, 


36; V, 13; 


1019 


VI, 236. 




VI, 407. 




1020 


1856, 171; 111,268; IV, 9. 


950 


IV, 200; V, 13, 14 


, 25. 


102 1 


1857, 171; VI, 576; V, 684. 


951 


1856, 20, 173 ; III, 


549- 


1022 


V, 402. 


952 


1856, 163-4; 1857, 


143- 


1023 


V, 314. 


954 


V, 686. 




1024 


I, 302. 


956 


Ill, 264. 




1026 


VI, 165. 


958 


CI. I. I, 120; 185^ 


, 118; 1857, 


1027 


VI, 264. 




149. 




1032 


VI, i6d. 




2. 1856, 235. 




1033 


Ill, 161. 




3. 1856, 118. 




1035 


Ill, 444. 




4. 1856, 208. 




1037 


Ill, 268. 




5. Ill, 115. 




1038 


1857, 22, 54, 93; III, 167. 




6. 1856, 178. 




1039 


CI. I. IV, 246. 




7. 1856, 189. 




1040 


1854, 58. , 




8. 1856, 170. 




1041 


VI, 157. 




13. 1857, 88. 




1045 


1857, 81-2. 


959 


1856, 114, 115. 




1048 


V, 64, 715, 802. 



ILLINOIS ODD-FELLOWS' CODE. 



331 



1050 
1057 



1070 



Sec. Vol. and Page of Journal. 
1857, 80. 
Ill, 193. 
VI, 1022. 

III, 256. 
1074 IV, 447-8. 
1077 VII, 116. 

' in, 485. 

1856, 109 ; III, 9. 

V, 686. 
I, 209; III, 553. 

VI, 915, 253, 328. 
VI, 119. 

IV, 469. 

IV, 379. 



1078 

1080 

1082 
1083 
1087 
1088 

1092 
1096 



Sec. 


Vol. and Page of Journal 


1 100 


I, 151. 


1101 


1856, 167; IV, 379. 


1102 


IV, 310. 


1103 


Ill, 160; VI, 822. 


1 104 


Ill, 160. 


1 106 


1, 149. 


- 1 109 


1, 307- 


iiii 


I, 219. 


1113 


IV, 202. 


1114 


IV, 128. 


m^5 


Ill, 549, 565 ; V, 665. 


1119 


ly 239. 


1121 


IV, 49. 


1123 


VI, 380, 381, 407. ' 



APPENDIX VII. 

Reference Tables. 

Table showing the Relation of Pages of the Journal 
G.L. 111. to the Years of the Sessions. 



As the references in the Code are generally by volume and 
page, the date of any law or decision does not appear ; but by 
this table and the table following it may be found, unless it be 
in the Constitution, By-Laws, or Rules of Order, which are 
duly referred to in the text. 



Vol. I, 



Year. 
838. 

839- 
842. 

843. 
844. 
845. 
846. 
847. 



Vol. IL 



Vol. III. 



Pages . 
3. I to 
4 
15 
25 
31 
36 
46 



851 2 

852 2 

853 not reprinted 

854 
855 
856 
857 
858 pp. 



4 
9 
23 
31 
36 
46 

77 
112 
156 



319 



to 72 
148 



Year. 



1862. 
1863. 



Vol. IV, 



1867. 



Vol. V, 1871. 

1872. 

1873. 

1874. 

1875. 
Vol. VI, 1876. 

1877 

1878. 

1879. 

1880. 
Vol. VII, 1881. 



Pages. • 



Vol. Ill, 1861 pp. 229 to 28 



28Q 


41b 


417 


480 


481 


544 


545 


652 


I 


120 


121 


184 


i8,S 


268 


269 


372 


373 


500 


I 


124 


125 


296 


297 


460 


461 


656 


657 


875 


I 


220 


221 


460 


461 


696 


697 


900 


901 


1088 



ILLINOIS ODD-FELLOWS' CODE. 833 



2. Table showing the Relation of the Journal of the 
S.G.L. to the Years of its Sessions. 

This table will show the date of all S.G.L. enactments and 
decisions, excepting those of the Constitution and By-Laws. 

Year, Pages. ' Year. Pages. 

821 from 41 to 49 1852 from 1825 to 1980 



822 49 51 1853. 

823 51 61 1854. 

824 62 73 1855. 

825 74 78 1856. 

826 79 83 1857. 

827 '. 84 90 1858. 



833. 
834. 
835. 
836. 
837. 



Pages. 


from 41 


to 49 


49 


51 


5i 


61 


62 


73 


74 


78 


79 


83 


84 


90 


90 


95 


96 


105 


106 


III 


112 


117 


118 


121 


121 


152 


152 


181 


182 


210 


211 


226 


227 


261 


262 


294 


295 


332 


333 


363 


304 


426 


427 


Sit) 


517 


604 


605 


720 


721 


840 


841 


1006 


1007 


1136 


1137 


1382 


1383 


1538 


1539 


1682 


1683 


1824 



1862. 
1863. 



1867. 



839 295 332 1870. 

I87I. 

1872. 
842 427 516 1873. 

' 1874. 

844 605 720 1875 . 

845 721 840 1876. 

1877. 
847. 



I98I 


2202 


2203 


2394 


2395 


2546 


2547 


2690 


2691 


2848 


2849 


3020 


3021 


3164 


3165 


3304 


3305 


3406 


3407 


3506 


3507 


3610 


36II 


3728 


3729 


3866 


3867 


4058 


4059 


4230 


4231 


4438 


4439 


4698 


4699 


4964 


4965 


5254 


5255 


5606 


5607 


5968 


5969 


6336 


6337 


6734 


6735 


7162 


7163 


7518 


7519 


7900 


7901 


8198 


819Q 


8522 


8S23 


8826 



Observe, in the pamphlet Journals of the S.G.L. the paging is sometimes 
duplicated : if any brother looking up a reference as given in this Code finds 
himself apparently referred to matter falling into the appendix of the pam- 
phlet Journal, let him at once look into the beginning of the Journal of next 
year. For example, pages 7163 to 7180 are to be found at the close of the 
Journal of 1876 and at the beginning of the Journal of 1877. 



APPENDIX VIII. 

Constitutions of Grand and Subordinate Lodges: Grand 
Lodge By-Laws and Rules of Order. 

The Constitution of the Grand I^odge of Illinois, its By-Laws 
and Rules of Order, and the Constitution of Subordinate 
Lodges in Illinois, are given in the Code, without change, except 
Jirst, ihsit the words Most Worthy, Right Wo?'thy and Worthy^ 
are omitted when used as official titles ; and second, the words 
Grand Lodge of the United States are stricken out, and Sovereign 
Grand Lodge are substituted therefor. The following tables 
will show in what sections of the Code the several Articles and 
Sections are to be found. 



L Constitution of Grand Lodge, Illinois. 



Art. I. Code 70 

Art. II. 71 

Art. III. Sec. i 72 

2 83 

Art. IV. Sec. 1 103 

2 115 

3 130 

4 131 

5 132 

6 133 

7 138 

8 139 

9 140 

10 141 

II 142 

12 135 

13 144 

14 134 

15 144 

16 143 

17 144 

18 105 

19 105 

20 104 

21 107 

22 Ill 



Art. IV. 
Art. V. 
Art. VI. 



Sec. 23 Code 114 

322 

Sec. 1 152 

2 154 

3 154 

4 155 

5 150 

6 157 

7 158 

8 159 

9 160 

10 161 

II 162 

12 163 

Art. VII. Sec. i 84 

2 86 

3 86 

4 92 

5 92 

Sec. 1 168 

2 178 

3 219 

4 372 



Art. VIII. 



Art. IX. 



ILLINOIS ODD-FELLOWS' CODE. 



335 



II. By-Laws of Grand Lodge, Illinois. 



Art. I. Code 87 

Art. II. Sec. i 193 

2 196 

3 1067 

4 625 

5 201 

6 203 



Art. II. Sec, 7 Code 205 

8 74 

9 73,75,78 

10 189 

II 373 

Art. in. 91 



III. Rules of Order, Grand Lodge, Illinois. 



Art. I ..Code 95-6 

11 97 

III 98 

IV 99 



Art. V Code 100 

VI lOI 

VII 102 



IV. Constitution of Subordinate Lodges, Illinois. 



Art. I. 



Art. II. 



Art. III. 



Art. IV. 



Art. V. 



Sec. I Code 

2 , . . 

3 

Sec. I 

2 

3 

4 

5 

6 

7 

8 

Sec. I 

2 

3-- 

4 

5 

6 

7 

8 

^ 9 ••• 

bee. I 

2 

3 

4 

Sec. I 

2 

3 

4 ... 

5 

6....... 



I Art. VI. 



966 
372 
381 

391 
426 
396 
405 
398 
424 
222 
222 

273 
287 
291 
297 
301 
306 
306 
1015 
1016 
603 
1025 
251 
248 
230 
340 
234 
261 



Art. VII. 



Art. VIII. 



Sec. I Code 

2 

3 

4 

Sec. I 

2 , 

3 

4 

5 

6 

7 

8 

9 

10 

II 

12 

13 

14 

15 

16 

17 

18 

19 

20 

21 

22 

23 

Sec. I 

2 

3 



758 



656 
662 
692 
702 
704 
728 
752 
710 
660 
663 
792 
725 
641 
725 
711 

711 
711 

711 
699 

777 
778 

779 



33fi 



ILLINOIS ODD-FELLOWS' CODE. 



Art. VIII. Sec. 4 Code 780 

5 813 

Art. IX. Sec. i 487 

2 488 

3 539 

4 504 

5 772 

Art. X. Sec. 1 429 

2-3 433 

4 776 

5-6 430 



Art. X. Sec. 7 Code 548 

8 547 

9 583 

10 428 

11-12 455 

Art. XI. Sec. i 1029 

2 1031 

3........ 193 

Art. XII. Sec 1 944 

2 90 

3 945 



APPENDIX IX. 
Rules of Order Appended to the Model Code. 

Rule I. When the presiding officer takes the chair, the 
officers and members shall take their respective seats; and at 
the sound of the gavel there shall be general silence. 

2. The following shall be the 

ORDER OF BUSINESS. 

I. Calling the roll of officers. 

II. Presentation of cards of visitors in waiting, and reception 
of visitors. 

[Cards should also be received at any later time during 
the session.] 

III. Reading and disposing of records. 

IV. Does any brother know of a sick brother, or a brother 

in distress ? 

V. Communications read and referred. 

1. From the Grand Lodge. 

2. From other Lodges. 

3. From persons. 

4. Bills against the Lodge. 

VL Consideration of previous proposals for membership or 
reinstatement. 

1 . Reports of Investigating Committees. 

2. Balloting. 

3. Admission of members, by initiation or by card ; by 

reinstatement. 



338 ILLINOIS ODD-FELLOWS' CODE. 

VII. Reports of committees and officers. 

1. Of Trustees. 

2. Of Visiting Committee. 

3. Of Finance Committee. 

4. Of other Standing Committees. 

5. Of Special Committees, by seniority. 

6. Of Treasurer — first meeting of each month. 

7. Of Secretaries and Treasurer — at close of term. 

VIII. Unfinished business. 

1. Excuses of absentees. 

2. The special order of the evening. . 

3. Other matters on the records. 

IX. New business. 

1. Proposals for membership or reinstatement. 

2. Applications for Degrees. 

3. Degrees conferred. 

4. Applications for cards or dismissal certificates. 

5. Resignations of office or of membership. 

6. Nominations for office. 

7. Elections. 

8. Installation. 

9. Appointments. 

10. Resolutions and motions. 

X. Good of the Order. 

1. Has any brother anything to offer for the good of the 
Order ? 

2. Are there any cases requiring the charity of the 
Order ? 

XI. Announcements. 

1. Of special meetings. 

2. Of miscellaneous matters. 

3. Of receipts of the evening in detail — by the Perma- 
nent Secretary. 

4. Of disbursements of the evening in detail-^by the 
Recording Secretary, 

XII. Closing the Lodge. 



ILLINOIS ODD-FELLOWS' CODE. 339 

3. The presiding officer shall preserve order and decorum, 
and pronounce the decision of the Lodge on all questions. He 
may speak on points of order in preference to other members, 
rising from his seat for that purpose. He shall decide all 
points of order without debate, unless he entertain doubts on 
the point, subject to an appeal to the Lodge by any two mem- 
bers, on which appeal no member shall speak more than once. 

4. Previously to taking the vote on any subject, the chairman 
shall in an audible voice ask : " Is the Lodge ready for the 
question?'' after which, if no member rise to speak, he shall 
rise and put the question. 

5. No Tnember shall speak to another, or otherwise interrupt 
the business of the Lodge, while the minutes are being read, or 
while any member is addressing the Chair. 

6. No member shall disturb another while addressing the 
Chair, unless to call him to order. No member shall rise from 
his seat while another member is speaking, nor on any pretense 
shall one pass between the speaking member and the presiding 
officer. 

7. No member shall speak on any question before the Lodge 
unless he rise from his seat and respectfully address the Chair. 
A member speaking shall confine himself to the subject under 
debate, and shall use no personal, indecorous or sarcastic lan- 
guage, to reflect on the Lodge or its members; and when his 
speech shall have been concluded, he shall resume his seat. 

8. If two members, or more than two, rise at the same time 
to speak, the Chair shall decide which is entitled to the floor. 

9. No member shall speak more than once on the same sub- 
ject unless all the members present wishing to speak shall have 
had an opportunity to do so, nor more than twice without per- 
mission from the Chair; and no member while speaking shall 
name another except by the appropriate title designating his rank 
in the Order. 

10. Whenever a member while speaking shall be called to 
order, he shall resume his seat until the question is settled and 
leave is given him to proceed. 

11. No motion shall be debated until the same is seconded 
and stated to the Lodge by the Chair; and any motion shall be 
reduced to writing on the request of any member. 

12. When a question is before the Lodge, no motion shall be 
in order but these : (i) to adjourn, or its equivalent, to proceed 



340 ILLINOIS ODD-FELLOWS' CODE. 

to close; (2) to lay on the table; (3) the previous question; 
(4) to postpone to a certain time ; (5) to commit ; (6) to amend ; 
(7) to postpone indefinitely : and these motions shall be privi- 
leged, and have precedence in the order in which they are made 
to succeed each other by this rule ; and motions to adjourn, to 
proceed to close, to lay on the table, and for the previous ques- 
tions, shall be decided without debate."^ 

13. When a previous question is moved and seconded, it 
shall be put at once in these words : " Shall the main question 
be now put ?" If decided in the affirmative, the debate ceases, 
and the Chair puts to vote all pending amendments, in their 
proper order, and the main question : if the previous question be 
decided in the negative, the question shall remain before the 
Lodge, as before. j- 

14. When a blank is to be filled, and different sums, numbers 
or times shall be proposed, the question shall be first put on the 
highest sum or number, and on the longest and latest time. 

15. Any member may call for a division of the question when 
it can be divided ; but a motion to strike out and insert shall be 
indivisible, except at the option of the mover. 

16. If the reading of any paper be called for and it be object- 
ed to by any member, the question shall be determined by a 
vote of the Lodge without debate. 

17. Every member present shall vote on all questions before 
the Lodge, unless the Lodge excuse him from so doing for 
special reasons. 

18. On a call for the yeas and nays by a majority of the 
Lodge, the name of each member voting shall be entered on the 
minutes. 

19. When a question is postponed indefinitely, it shall not be 
again acted on during that or the next succeeding meeting. 

20. No motion shall be heard for a reconsideration of any 
vote of the Lodge unless the same shall be made by a member 
who voted with the majority in the first instance. 

21. Before any communication, petition, or memorial, shall be 
received and read by the Secretary, a brief statement of its con- 

* The order of precedence here given is^ the same as in Robert's Rules of 
Order, adapted to the special laws of a Lodge. 

f Robert says if the motion is made to strike out certain words, the chair- 
man must put the motion in this form : " Shall these words stand as a part 
of the resolution? " — so that on a tie vote they are struck out. 



fTJJNOrS ODD-FELLOWS' CODE. e341 

tents shall be made verbally to the Lodge, either by the mem- 
ber presenting the same or by the presiding officer. 

22. On application to the Chair, any member may be excused 
from serving on a second committee, at the time of his appoint- 
ment thereon, if the duties of the fir^t committee remain unper- 
formed, and the applicant be not discharged therefrom. 

23. The person first named on a committee shall act as chair- 
man thereof, unless the committee select a different member for 
that office. The mover and seconder of a resolution referred to 
a special committee are usually the first named thereon. 

24. No committee can be finally discharged until all debts 
contracted by it shall have been paid. 

25. The consequences of any measure may be reprobated in 
strong terms ; but to arraign the motives of those who pro-» 
pose or advocate it is a personality and against order. 

26. When a member shall be called to order for words 
spoken, the objectionable words shall (if required) be taken 
down m writing by the Secretary. 

27. No motion can be made by one member while another is 
speaking, and no motion shall be received unless the member 
making it shall rise and address the Chair. 

28. The affirmative of a question is first put, then the nega- 
tive ; but in matters of form, or of course, such as reading 
reports, petitions, memorials, or other papers, withdrawing mo- 
tions, etc.; to save time, the Chairman usually assumes the assent 
of the Lodge when, on inquiry, no objection is expressed. 

29. The Chairman, or any member, doubting the decision of 
the Lodge, may call a count or a division of the votes. 

30. All questions not herein provided for shall be decided 
upon the principles laid down in Robert's Rules of Order. 

31. These rules of order may be temporarily suspendatl by 
general consent or by special vote of two-thirds of the members 
present ; and they may be permanently amended in the same 

, manner as the by-laws. 



II^DEX. 



4®^ The figures refer to the sections "^H 

ABSCONDING, of accused, how treated, 66i, 662, 663. 
ABSENCE, of G. Rep. from S.G.L., does not forfeit seat unless under laws 
of his G. Body, for neglect of duty, 18; excusable for absence at S.G.L., 
18. 

of Lodge Rep. from G.L., does not forfeit his office, 80 ; causes loss of 
mileage if not excused, 81. 

of G.M. ; D.G.M. takes place, 130 ; or member called to chair by G.L., 87. 

of petitioners from institution, 174. 

of fu7i. P.G., not finable, 227, 

of Deputy, N.G. installs, 335. 

of ojficer-elect, may create vacancy, etc., 257, 258 ; his appointments 
not made by another, 240. 

of officer, excusable when caused by sickness, etc., 253, 740, but may not 
be granted in advance by Lodge, 253, 261, 262, 268; pro-te7n.^2c^\>o\Vi.\.- 
ments in case of absence, 256; proxy filling of office not legal, 267; 
absence at opening Lodge without excuse is neglect of duty, 742 ; remote 
residence not excuse, 745; absent Sec, should send ke^'s, 747; 
office may be vacated after absence of three weeks, 261, 262, 911, that 
is, on fourth night, 263 ; opportunity for excuse must be given, 739 ; 
N.G. addresses excuse to Lodge, V.G. presiding, 286 ; in absence of 
N.G., V.G. presides, 287; V.G. and P.V.G's absent, N.G. makes any 
member V.G. Pro tein., 289, and takes V.G.'s part at initiation, 289; 
in absence of N.G. and V.G., a P.G. takes chair, 289; in absence of all 
officers qualified to preside, brothers present organize and note absentees 
and report to next meeting, 981 ; in such case, V.G. of another Lodge 
may not preside, 290 ; absent officer takes place on arriving, 308 ; in 
absence of N.G. or V.G. from chair, not from Lodge, supporter takes 
the chair, 283, 284, 289 ; absence of officer or member from funeral or 
meeting excusable if caused by official position in church or Sunday 
school, 744 ; leave of absence not given by taking card, 510. 

of 7nem.ber from meeting, no penalty, 549, 627, 746 ; absent brother may 
be nominee for office, 232, or put on committee, 1010 ; member finable 
as absent from funeral, if not with Lodge, but in another society, 1078. 

of acctised, when he may or may not be tried, 658, 660, 661, 662, 667; 
new trial if unavoidably absent, 663 ; absence is ground for expulsion for 
contempt, 665 ; testimony taken in his absence, if he has been notified 
of the taking, 673. 

of witness , 991. 

See Absconding. 



344 ILLINOIS ODD-FELLOWS' CODM. 

4i^ The figures refer to the sections ""©fL 

ABSTINENCE, not to be required in place of temperance, 627. 

ACCLAMATION, election by, 234, 237. 

ACCOUNTS, in G.L., examined by Com. on Finance, 159 : G. Sec. keeps, 
132 ; and G. Treas., 133 ; place in order of business, 95, cl. 2. 
in Sub. L., kept by Per. Sec. or Sec, 291, 297 : error in, to be corrected, 
299; Treas. keeps account of funds and expenses, 301: accounts of 
financial officer to be settled before he takes W.C., 510. 
of individuals . — See Pecuniary Affairs. 

ACTS OF INCORPORATION, Appendix, pp. 308-311. 
See Incorporation. 

ACCUSED (Defendant in a trial, or one against whom an information has 
been filed). Deputy may not be attorney for, 328 : tried and punished 
by his own Lodge only, except in change of venue, 611, 711 : to be 
tried, even if dropped, 617, 732: outline of rights, and trial, 630: 
accused may be an accuser, 645 : if acquitted , cannot demand name of 
complainant, 643 : if accused is officer, not displaced while under 
charges, 649, 112 : must have copy of charges and be cited to trial, 656 : 
cited personally, or by mail or other notice, 656, 661, 662 : when he may 
be tried, and when not, 658 ; if he evades trial, or refuses to attend, may 
be expelled for contempt, 660, 665 : must attend trial, 660, or otherwise 
make defense, waiver or plea, 666, 667 : must have opportunity to defend 
himself, and a new trial if wronged through his absence, 663, 664 : his 
W.C.,if he has one, revoked, 657; may have witnesses summoned or 
depositions taken, 656, 675 : to be notified of taking testimony, 630, 656 : 
is not guilty of contempt if he does not attend it, 673 : to be notified of 
taking depositions, and may file interrogatories, 675 : may not vote on 
his own case, but may in any other case, 698: accused confessing, 
penalty may follow without trial, 704, 705, 706, 708 : may not be 
arraigned for one offense and found guilty of another, 7P9 : may be wit- 
ness in his own case, 684 : should not plead guilty if he justifies his acts, 
707 ; retires to ante-room during vote on penalty, 692 : may be one of 
three to ask change of venue, 711, 713 : if he was dropped or suspended 
before trial, must be admitted to Lodge to defend himself, 716 : pre- 
sumed innocent until found guilty, and has all rights and privileges, 735 : 
has right to see records and papers, and copy them, and may make his 
written defense a part of them, 722 : may not be tried twice for the same 
offense, 717 : for his rights on appeal, see Appeals : see also pp. 277, 
280-4, in Practical Codes. 
See Charges, Trial, Offense, etc. 

ACCUSER, how to bring charges or make complaint, 642 ; Trial Code, Div. 
II, p. 274 : one under charges may be accuser, 645 : cannot withdraw 
information unless false, 645 : name of accuser concealed, 643 ; name 
given to Lodge if complaint is malicious, 641, 643. 
See Trial and related titles. 

ADDRESS, of each G.M., G.P., G. Sec. and G. Scribe, reported to G.L.U.S. 
and put into Journals, (i(). Address to Chairs obligatory, with three 
exceptions, 1114. Address (that is, Lecture) laws governing, restraining 
and allowing, 1118 to 1120. 

ADJOURNMENT, sine die, in order, and compels closing, 977 : to definite 
time, never legal, 977. 

ADMISSION to Lodge room, as member Or visitor. Lodge may not 
refuse for immorality or irregularity, but may for violence, insult, disorder. 



ILLINOIS ODD-FELLOWS' CODE. 315 

4^^ The Jigtircs refer to the sections ^"^ll 

ADMISSION— Continued. 

indecency, 530, 531 ; not obtained otherwise than in regular manner, 529 ; 
must be allowed to every brother who is correct, and in proper time, etc., 
and in regalia, 975 ; brother not to be kept out of G. or Sub. L. for reading 
of minutes, 976. 
See Visiting. 

ADMISSION, by card, 323 ; applicant for, is a candidate, 328, and 
must have regular unexpired W.C, 381 ; Lodge may grant or refuse 
admission by card, 382; governed by laws of residence, 381, 383; 
no period of residence required before application, 379 ; consent of G.M. 
necessary'- to obtain, out of state, 374; exception to this, 380; N.G. 
examines applicant for, 384 ; irregular admission by card not void, 400, 
415; person so joining to be introduced and sign constitution, 417; no 
ceremony of introduction prescribed, 418 ; one suggested, p. 300 ; card 
remains in Lodge upon admission, but may be withdrawn unless election 
creates membership, 419 ; fee for admission by card, 433 ; applicant must 
have A.T.P.W,, or is Ancient, 384 ; if applicant is rejected, card returned 
as received, 517; admission b}' card not revoked by returning card, 638 ; 
admission to non-beneficial membership, 364, 425 to 428 ; admission by 
card is on written petition, with fee and card, 400 : election on verbal 
application only invalid, 400; but valid if consummated, 400, 415; 
brother obliged to answer questions as to health, 385 ; a charter member 
is one admitted by card, 170, 174, 441 ; admission by card to the Lodge 
that issued card is by regular course, 386 ; admission by card to R.D.L., 
896. 

ADJOINING. Residence modified for adjoining states, how far, 380. 

ADOPTED daughter, same rights as real daughter, 878. 

ADVERTISEMENT. Use of name, title, emblems, etc., in advertising is 
prohibited, 620, cl. 8 ; 941 ; advertising times and places of meeting 
advised, 1090. 

AFFIDAVIT not to be required of a brother claiming benefits, 570; in tak- 
ing testimony in a trial, note to Form 37, Appendix. 

AGE. No old age a disqualification by general laws, 365, nor by Illinois 
law, 372; by-laws may not fix limit, 366; applicant must be 21 years, 
365, 372; some over 50 may join non-beneficial, 364, 425 to 428 ; left to local 
law outside N. America, 365 ; admission under age not void, 415 ; 
fraudulent misrepresentation of age may be investigated even after death, 
and benefits refused, 569, 615, 620, cl. 7; admission b}' mistake of age 
without fraud, no action needed, 415 ;' old age and indigence merely do 
not entitle to benefits, 564, cl. 3. 

AID, pecuniar3^ Lodge desiring, applies to G.L., 207; G.M. ma}^ authorize 
further application, 117, 207; G. Sire cannot authorize Subs, under- 
G. Bodies to ask, 208 ; discouraged for loss by fire, and for individual 
loss, 209 ; unauthorized application not to be entertained, 208 ; may be 
given new Lodge or R.D.L., 469 ; G. Body may use funds trom extinct 
Subs, for aid, 1023. 
See Relief, Charity, Donation. 

ALARM. Bell-ringing or public alarm to call a meeting not allowed, 973 ; 
how to act if alarm disperses meeting, 973, 974. 

ALMSHOUSE, 565. 



346 ILLINOIS ODD-FELLOWS' CODE. 

4®^ The figures refer to the sections ="^11 

AMENDMENTS, (I) of Const. G. Body, must go to G.L.U.S., and how, 
3 ; not valid until approved, 3 ; action under amendment before 
approval, is void, 3 ; adopted legally by specified majority of members 
present, unless otherwise required, 47 ; convention may propose, 60 ; 
may not be adopted summarily, if law prescribes another regular course, 
45 ; nor be amended, except under local law, 45. 

(II) of Const., By-Laws and Rules of Order, G.L. III., how proposed 
and acted on, 89, 91, 102. 

(III) of Const., Sub. L. III., amended at any session of G.L,, but not by 
Sub, L., 90, 943. 

(IV) of R.D.L. Const., 916. 

(V) of By-Laws Subs., must be submitted to G,L,, 945, 948, 949, except 
sundry, 959 ; must be adopted according to law, 945 ; amendment may 
be amended, 954, 

(VI) of records, how made, and when, 993, 996, 997. 

(VII) of returns, 1033, 

ANCIENT ODD-FELLOW, defined, 391, 392, 1069 ; may deposit card for 
membership, or enter on examination, 392 ; not reinitiated, 392 ; holder 
of current W,C, without A.T.P.W, is A.O,F., 384; members not 
included in revival of their defunct Lodge, admitted as A. 0,F's, 394 ; 
fee for admission of A.O.F. not less thanks, 433; member of extinct 
Sub, not admitted as A.O,F. without card, 1079 ; nature of evidence in 
default of card, 390 ; if lacking, to be reinitiated, 388 ; how rank is deter- 
mined, 392, 847 . A,0,F. not to be buried by the Lodge, 1079, 

ANNIVERSARY of the Order, is April 26th ; observance urged, 1086 ; 
procession that day needs no dispensation, 205 ; but festival on that day 
requires permission, under law of 212-215 ; right of Lodge to pay 
expenses of celebration, 456, under limits of G.L. law, 457 ; but tax 
therefor forbidden, 463 ; surplus raised for celebration belongs to Lodge, 
459 ; form used in celebration, in Book of Forms, 1105. 
See Festival. 

ANNUL, annulment of W.C's partly under local legislation, 69, cl. 8 ; 
allowed only for trial, 505; to take place within the year, 515 ; creates 
membership for trial, 515, 516; done when charges are brought before 
Lodge, 640, 657 ; surrender of card on demand of Lodge is same as 
annulling, 516; election of unworthy candidate annulled, 412, 413 ; or of 
candidate disabled before initiation, 414. 
See Ballot, for annulling of ballot. 

ANTE-ROOM, see Lodge room, (Legally, the ante-room is part of the 
Lodge room.) 

APPEAL, to S.G.L. — See particulars in Practical Code of Appeals, Div. II, 
p. 283 ; also these : appeals to S.G.L. are decided on local laws gener- 
ally, 48; they protect Sub. that obeys general law, 183; position of 
Sub. during appeal, 184 ; cannot be granted by G.M., 119 ; G.Rep. ma3^ 
vote on appeal from his own state, 16 ; appeal on benefits does not free 
Lodge from payment unless G.L. so provides, 803. 
to Grand Lodge, must be filed ten days before session, 791 (9) ; go to 
Com. Jud. or Appeals, 95, 157, 158; which committee must observe by- 
laws of G.L,, 798 ; in recess, decided by G.M, finally, unless appeal to 
G.L: be taken, 115 ; G.L. may not entertain contrary to its laws, 797 ; how 
G.L. may entertain, 71, 788 ; appeal laws of Illinois, 791 ; see Practical 
Code, p. 280 ; appeal must be on suitable grounds, 787 ; any illegality 



ILLINOIS ODD-FELLOWS' CODE. 347 

4^^ The figures refer to the sections "^©^ 

X'^Vl^K'L—Contifiued. 

or wrong, 791 ; fine, 739 ; dismissal of charges, 670 ; granting new trial, 
664; decision of Dep., 791(4); refusal of W.C.,' 537; on entire case 
in trial, but not on incidental questions, 791 (6) ; but objections formall}'^ 
waived bar appeal, 671 ; unjust acquittal recognized as ground of appeal, 
1003; see Code, p. 281-2 ; must be taken in legal time, three months, 
797; by whom, see Appellant; may be taken against grade of pen- 
alt}' by confessing brother, 801 ; may be allowed in case of change of 
venue, 711 (22) ; Lodge must record and forward, 791 (i and 8), 796 ; goes 
to G. Sec, who examines and forwards to G.M. or returns for correc- 
tion, 791 (7) ; Lodge must help perfect or forward as received, 791 (8) ; 
G.S. or G.M, may demand from Lodge, 791 (8), which may not prohibit 
or condition appeal, 791 (8). 

If appeal avers informality or wrong, it must be shown, 799 ; if local law 
limits appeal to points of law and fairness, facts cannot be examined, 
799^; if law gives Lodge alone power to fix penalty, G.L. cannot dis- 
turb penalty, 799 ; G.L. may consider value of evidence and witnesses, 
794 ; appeal confers no privilege on either party, see Practical Code, 
Part D, p. 283; does not stay payment of benefits if ordered, 575, 790, 
803, nor stop installation, 351, nor stay sentence, 730, 789, 790, but Dep. 
may stay payment or sentence, 329 ; taking W.C. or resigning not 
allowed to certain party during appeal, 790, 486. 

In appeal for benefits, error may be corrected, and how, 577, and Code, 
p. 265 : such appeal must be in due time, three months, 576 : party acquit- 
ted on law and facts by G.L. cannot be retried as resiilt of appeal, 800 : 
if Com. of G.L. hears argument. Lodge must have notice, 802 : Rep. 
may not vote on case from his Lodge, 1004. 

to Deputy, only when sent to him by Lodge or officer, or for stay of sen- 
tence, etc., 329. 

on qziestions of law, from N.G. to Lodge (then to Dep. if Lodge presents 
it, 329, i), then to G.M., 944. 

on points of order, in G.L., 98 : G.M. may not deny appeal, 116: in 
Lodge, from N.G. to Lodge, decision final, 962. 
APPELLANT. Statement and references in Code of Appeals, Div. I, Pt. 

B, p. 281. 
APPOINTMENT, of officers in S.G.L., 19 ; in G.L. 111., 39, 103, 114, 115 : 
in Sub. L., see Practical Code, pp. 269, 271, 273, 274. 

of committees, see Committees, and Code, pp. 269, 273, 274. 
APRON. — See Appendix, p. 324. 

ARMY. Benefits not to be denied to brothers in army, 565 (4, 5) : movable 
Lodges in army not allowed, 190; enlisted soldier having temporary 
residence only, not to be initiated, 377, except under 374. 
ARREARS. Phrase '' thirteen weeks in arrears " explained, 765 ; duty of 
Per. Sec. to brothers in arrears, 297 ; must run one year's time before 
dropping, 763 : may deprive of P.W. and of benefits, 764, but not of 
funeral benefits prior to dropping, 586 : do not work exclusion if resulting 
from official misinformation, 565 (13). 

See Dues, Dropping, Non-Payment, Benefits, Password, Defunct. 
ASSESSMENT (a special tax levied for a special fund or purpose, or to 
meet an emergency : regular taxes not so set apart are dues). 

(I) by G. Body, once laid by S.G.L., 27, note : power to levy is essential 
to G.L., 50: but may not be laid to provide asylums, 52, W. and O. 



348 ILLlNOfS ODD-FELLOWS' CODE. 

4^ The Jigiires refer to the sections "^®|l 

ASSESSMENT— C^;zz'zVzz/r^. 

endowments, 57, life insurance or endowment benefit, 55, 56, libraries, 54, 
or general charity, 53. 
(II) by Sub. Lodge, may be made for purposes of the Order, 430, or for 
special funds thereunder, 430 : for hiring watchers, 432 ; widow's benefit, 
462; furnishing Lodge room, 464; for music at funeral, if by-laws 
provide, 465 ; but not for celebration, 463, or purposes forbidden in 458. 
Must be made to pay benefits, 461 ; goes into general fund if not by law 
assigned to special, 466 ; covers holder of card or one suspended, 438, 
451; to be collected if made under by-law not sent to G.L., 950 ; if re- 
quired when treasury is at minimum, made without delay for collections, 
467 ; must be objected to at proper time or not at all, 564 ; payments on 
account cover these in order of accruing, 429 ; special assessments are 
'' dues " in one sense, 434. 

ASSIGNMENT of benefit, not legal, 589. 

ASYLUMS, referred to local legislation and action, 69 (5), 11 22 : not to be 
sustained by assessments on Sub. L's, 52. 

A.T.P.W. and A.P.W.— See Passwords. 

ATHEISM, makes one ineligible to membership, 365 ; is reason for expul- 
sion, 620 (19), 621. 

ATTENDANCE.— See Absence. 

ATTORNEY, Deputy may not be, for defendant, 330; not admitted in 
trial, unless an O.F., 636. — See Counsel. 

AUSTRALIA, illegal cards from, 483. 

BALL. — See Festival. 

BALLOT (mode of voting by balls on election of candidates and on result 
of trials : also, elections of officers are said to be by ballot : for ballot in 
elections, see Election. See also Practical Codes, Membership, p. 253 ; 
Elections, p. 272 ; Trial, p. 278). Every proposition must be balloted on, 
if reported on, 396, 403, and separately, 402 : no election or rejection with- 
out ballot, 404 ; Lodge may postpone ballot sometimes, 421 ; ballot exam- 
ined by N.G. and V.G., and result declared, 405, 406; three black balls 
reject, 405 ; number of rejecting balls fixed by local law, 408: ballot must be 
secret, not exposed by voter, 407, nor inquired into in anyway, 407 ; may 
be taken over at once, before result is declared, on suspicion of error, or 
at once after result if challenged for error, 409 ; new ballot in case of 
irregularity ordered by Lodge, not by N.G., 409, 410 ; law for one recon- 
sideration, 411 ; no rejection to be set aside by new investigation or bal- 
lot, 408, or for alleged errors in voting, 410; reconsideration of ballot, 
except under 411, inadmissible, 1007; ballot may be annulled, if unsm't- 
able person is elected, 412 ; in such case, report awaits action and new 
ballot, 413 ; no ballot on rejected candidate for six months, 413 ; Deputy 
may not set aside ballot except for legal reasons, 330 ; no address required 
in balloting, 1115; ballot is closed when N.G. so declares, 1116; ballot 
necessary on giving W.C., 489, 896, but not on V.C., 502; had on 
election to degrees, at regular meeting, separately on each candidate; 
850, 852, 856; if degrees are refused, no new ballot for six months, 853; 
no ballot on giving R.D., 870; but is had on admission of members of 
R.D.L., 886, 906. — Ballot not necessary on dropping, 759; all votes on 
charges and penalty taken by ballot, and how, 699, 700, 701. 



ILLINOIS ODD-FELLOWS' CODE. 349 

4^ The figures refer to the sections ^"^ll 

BALTIMORE. Place of office of G. Sec. of the S.G.L., and generally of 
meeting of the S.G.L., 24; place of founding of the Order, p. 312. 

BANNER. Political banner not to be put up on Lodge room, 217. 
See Flag. 

BENEFICIAL, defined, 548, note : any one who has not joined the Lodge 
by card or reinstatement, under the provisions of law for non-beneficial 
membership, and who may become or is entitled to benefits. Degrees 
not essential to being beneficial, 549 ; brother ceasing to be beneficial 
loses all benefits, for self and family, 598. 
See Beneficiary, Non-Beneficial, and Benefits. 

BENEFICIARY, defined, 548; one who is actually entided to benefits if 
taken sick : qualifications, 548, 786; "legal representatives" can never 
be beneficiaries : only dependent relatives, etc., can be such, 599. 
See Beneficial, Non-Beneficial, Benefits. 

BENEFIT ASSOCIATIONS, may be formed by members of the Order, 
and how, 56. 

BENEFITS. The Practical Code of Benefits and Rehef, pp. 265 to 268, 
furnishes an index to this subject. The following references are either 
additional to those in the Code, or are not so directly connected with the 
subject as to find place in the Code. 
Non-beneficial members cannot receive benefits, 428, 598 ; deprivation of 
benefits not legal penalty for offense, 729 : claims for benefits during sus- 
pension of sentence are acted on as if no sentence had been passed, 730 : 
effect of arrears, 764 : suspension cuts off benefits, 732 : member under 
charges is not deprived of benefits, 735 : benefits ordered paid by G.L. 
must be paid, despite appeal to S.G.L., unless stay be granted, 803 : 
benefits may be given by R.D.L., 912 : G.L. should pay benefits due 
from a defunct Lodge, so far as its effects will pay them, 1062 :- must be 
paid on certificate of General Relief Committee, 580 : cannot be sus- 
pended by dispensadon, 552. 

BENEVOLENT ASSOCIATION. G.L. may not prescribe consdtution 
to voluntary association in the Order, 58 : benevolent associations may 
be organized of persons having R.Deg., 903, 904 : but such voltmtary 
association cannot use the work of the Order, or meet as a Lodge, 903, 
904. 

BLACK BALL.— See Ballot. 

BLACK-BOOK, to be kept by every Lodge, and how, 725. 

BLIND, not to be initiated, and why, 369 : benefits due to brother becoming 
blind, 601 : blindness may be reason to annul election, 414. . 

BOARD OF RELIEF. Work recommended, 608 : if volunteer, G.L. may 
not prescribe constitution, 58 : G.L. may not compel Subs, to con- 
tribute to, 53 : takes proper certificates when it grants relief, etc., 579; 
must be repaid by Lodge when it advances benefits, 580. 

BOND, given by G. Sec. and G. Treas. to G.L., 134 : required of Fer. Sec, 
300 : amount fixed by Lodge, not by by-law, 300, 303 : Treas. gives 
bond before installation ; if not so given, installing officer may have 
bond perfected, etc., 350 : Rec. Sec. gives bond, if he acts as Per. Sec, 
300 : bond to Trustees, but not by individual names, 303 : Trustees keep 
bonds, 1022 : bond for one term not valid for another, 300 : bond not to 
be altered, 300 : G. Sec. furnishes blanks, 300 : forms, pp. 298, 299. 



350 ILLINOIS ODD-FELLOWS' CODE. 

4^ The figures refer to the sections '^M- 

BOOKS, canvassing for sale in Lodge forbidden, 1088. 
See Ritual, Effects, Work of the Order, Supplies. 

BROTHER (title by which members address or speak of others in the 
Lodge room, or among themselves). Title not to be forbidden in public 
by by-law, 1106; suspended member cut off from all privileges .(732), 
loses right to this title for the time. (Jour. G.L. 111., I, 174.) 

"BULL-RING," use forbidden, 1113. 

BURIAL, not due to dropped member, 762; nor to A.O.F., 1079 '> duty of 
Lodge to bury every member not suspended, and to pay funeral 
expenses, 1074, 588 ; payment of expense of burial away from home, 
579 ; burial by committee or part of Lodge, 1076, 1077. 
See Funerals, 1072, 1083. 

BUSINESS, legal if done in legal session, 982, with presence of charter, 972, 
and quorum, 978 ; if quorum is not of members entitled to vote, all 
business is invalid, except certain affecting other parties, 979 ; must be 
done in Third Degree, 968 ; small attendance does not invalidate, 972; 
business of special meeting must be named in call, 966 ; may be under 
"good of the Order," 990; not transacted by Lodge or committee on 
Sunday, 969, 1014 ; not illegal if P.G. is in chair in place of N.G. or 
V.G., 285, 283 ; reported by Per. Sec. and Treas., 297, 301 ; order of 
business in Ritual advisory, not obligatory, 989 ; acts of suspended Lodge 
void, 1061 ; Lodges do business in other languages than English, 999, 
1000. 

BY-LAWS, (I) ^ G*. Bodies, need not be sent to G.L.U.S., 3; by-laws 
G.L. 111. are given in this Code ; see table showing where found, p. 335 ; 
how amended, 91. 
(II) of Subordinates. Constitution empowers to make by-laws, 945 ; 
this their only legislative power, 182 ; by-laws and amendments must 
be sent to next regular session of G.L. for approval, though binding 
until disapproved or repealed, 948, 949, 950 ; examined in G.L, by Jud. 
Com,, 157; G.L. not sustained in altering by-laws when they conform 
to laws already ; must approve by-laws on subject over which Sub. L, 
has by law full authority, 947 ; by-laws not annulled by amendments of 
Const. Subs, unless conflicting, 943, 
If Lodge has no by-laws, it may adopt at any time, 946; G.M. has not 
the power to approve the by-laws of Lodge, nor can he or Dep. set 
them aside in any way, 951 ; by-laws should not contain superfluities 
or re-enact general laws, 952 ; may not be set aside, even by unanimous 
vote, 953; adoption of new code totally repeals the old, despite consent 
or custom, 956, 957 ; amendment to by-laws is itself amendable, 954 ; 
adoption of amendment may be reconsidered like other action, 955 ; to 
be amended only on previous notice, 961 ; when constitution assigns 
details of law to by-law^, they show how constitution is to be carried 
out, 960. 
Fines may be fixed by by-law, are legal then only, 743, 747 ; sundry 
matters not allowed in by-laws, 958 ; by-laws may not require attend- 
ance of non-official members, 549 ; nor limit time of benefits, 551 ; nor 
make standing committees on certain matters, 1012 ; but may create 
standing committees other than those of Const. Subs., 1015 ; may add to 
Vis. Com. and regulate its work, 603; may create special funds, 430; 
and regulate W. and O. relief, 595; and provide details of watch and 
care of sick, 578; by-law requiring use of signs illegal, 1115 ; no by- 
law needed on J>ro~tem. appointments, 256; may require N.G. to call 



ILLINOIS ODD-FELLOWS' CODE. 351 

4^ The figures refer to the sections '"'©§1 

Wi-Y.K^'^—Contimied. 

special meetings for some cases, 279; must fix definite rates of dues, 
initiation and degree fees, 431, 435 ; expenditures may be regulated by 
by-laws, 456 ; by-law fixes rate of benefits and some qualifications, 
546, 549 ; by-law may not give benefit on death of wife, 592 ; by-law 
regulates payment to widow or orphan, 595 ; by-law may not provide 
for charges and trials, 632. By-laws which in any way abridge the 
privileges and rights of members before trial are illegal, as they suspend 
without trial, 736; by-laws may provide disability for arrearages, and 
to fine absentees, etc., 738, 742 ; by-laws in matter of penalty must 
conform to G.L. laws, 729; by-law may be altered on price of cards 
and evening of meeting without going up to G.L., 959, 971 ; by-law 
may not forbid use of title '' Brother/' 1106. 
(Ill) of Red. Degree Lodge. May be made by the R.D.L. subject to 
approval of G.L., 888, 914; such by-laws prescribe dues, relief, time of 
meeting, and for dropping for N.P.D., 912, 913. 

CALAMITY. Management of extensive relief, 64. 

CANDIDATE. I (one who is proposed for membership). Term applied 
alike to person proposed for initiation or other admission, 365 ; may not 
be refused for religious belief or disbelief, except atheism, 365 ; must 
answer as to health when questioned, 385 ; how proposed, 396 ; election 
may be set aside, if found unworthy, or otherwise unfit, 412, 414; name 
may be withdrawn before report of committee, 398, 987 ; may not be 
initiated except where elected, 420 ; may be initiated on night of elec- 
tion, 422 ; examined when he presents himself only as Ritual directs, 
416; elected if not more than two black balls are cast, 405 ; his election 
void and fee forfeited in six weeks by non-appearance, 398 ; signs consti- 
tution, 417, by mark if he cannot write, 417. 
II. Applicant for degrees is called candidate, 852. 

Ill (member nominated for office). In G.L., must be nominated before 
election, 105 ; one having lowest number in a ballot is dropped, if there 
is more than one candidate, 104. 
In Sub. L., candidate must be nominated, 234; elected by acclamation or 
ballot, 234 ; may not be ordered to retire during election, 229 ; may be 
elected in his absence, 232 ; name having fewest votes dropped at each 
ballot, 234 ; names announced before each ballot, 235 ; if ineligible can- 
didate is chosen, new election must be held, 235. 
See Membership, Initiation, Rejection, Qualification, Admission 
BY Card, Election, Eligibility, Degrees. 

CANVASSING, for sales in Lodge room, forbidden, 1088 ; for votes, 
forbidden, 620 (12). 

CAP, as part of uniform, 925. 

CAPITATION TAX, a tax levied on a Lodge at so much a member, — See 
Tax. 

CARD. A certificate of past or present standing in a Lodge or Encamp- 
ment, issued by Lodge or Camp, with a recommendation of the holder, 
and (excepting Ladies' Cards) with a P.W. to enable the holder to visit. 
The Practical Code of Cards and Visiting, pp. 259-264, and the Prac- 
tical Code of Membership, Div. II, Part C, p. 251, constitute a prac- 
tical index of this title. Some of the references given below are additional 
to those given in the Codes. 
(I) Cards generally. Not to be given to brother under charges, 484, 487, 
735 ; nor without payment of fee, 429, 496 ; may be granted at special 



352 ILLINOIS ODD-FELLOWS' CODE, 



41^ The figures refer to the sections """©H 

CARD — Continued. 

meeting of Lodge, 982 ; holder may have order for P.W,, 835, which 
must be given him, 836 ; cards sold by G.S. only on order of Lodge or 
to Reps, at G.L., 1049 ; price may be altered in by-law without reference 
to G.L., 959. 

(II) Visiting- card, C2i\\&d also traveling, 482 ; holder of expired V.C. may 
be introduced by G. Officer, 149 ; V.C. \s prinui-facie evidence of right to 
benefits, etc., 565 (7); if given by mistake for W.C., makes Lodge 
liable, 566 ; relief warranted by V.C. to be repaid, 608 ; if holder dies 
away from home, Lodge giving burial, etc., may reclaim funeral 
expenses, 585 ; return of V.C. with evidence of sickness not required, 
570; officer taking V.C. and departing for long time, his office may be 
vacated at once, 263. 

(III) Withdravoal card — called also final , permanent , clearance, 482 ; 
taking does not vacate G. Office, if deposited in one month, 17 ; holder is 
in good standing in Order, 361, 1108 ; but he cannot be member of G.L., 
82; nor have claim for benefits, 557; nor be N.G. of a R.D.L., 906 ; 
nor join a procession without consent, 1097 ; nor be introduced by G. 
Officer after expiry of card, 149. 

W.C. is not invalid by defunction of granting Lodge, 382, 508 ; is deposited 
with petition for charter, however old, expired or unexpired, 168, 170, 
and goes to G. Sec, 173; if holder is absent from institution, it is re- 
claimed from G. Sec, 174; remains in Lodge after deposit, 419 ; invalid 
if granted by less than quorum, 979; may be granted at reinstatement 
by same vote, 756(4), 780; may not be granted during pendency of 
appeal involving standing of applicant, 790 ; may not be taken by brother 
from Lodge where he lives to join remoter one, except in forming new 
Lodge, 383 ; recognized if not on regular blank, if issued by Southern 
Lodge in emergency of the war, 483. 

Holder of W.C. rejoins issuing Lodge same way as any other, 386 ; is under 
jurisdiction of granting Lodge one year, 616 ; to be reported for miscon- 
duct, 640; may enter charges or complaint, 644 ; forgetting P.W., may 
re-obtain it, 839. Person improperly admitted on card not to be dis- 
missed by return of his W.C, 638; on refusal of W.C, applicant may 
resign and take certificate, 537, 539 ; wife of holder of W.C., if of R.D., 
may visit Lodge with him in that degree, 881 ; widow of holder may not 
claim R.D., 8^80. 

(IV) G.L. card of withdrazval , may be issued to one largely in arrears, 
1079 ; may be used for non-beneficial membership, 425. 

See Visiting, Supplies, Admission by Card, Defunct, Annulment, 

Dismissal Certificates. 

CASTING VOTE, given in G.L. by G.M. whenever G.L. is equally divided, 

115; given in Lodge by N.G., 273, on questions before the Lodge, 275 ; 

to be given in case of tie, 1006; " casting vote" explained, 1009, note. 

CAUCASIANS, only, to be members, 367. 

CELEBRATION, not to be held without permission of G.M. , 212-215: 
special assessment for celebration not to be levied, 463. 
See Anniversary and Festival. 
CEMETERY, may not be divided among members, 480; a proper object of 

expenditure, 456(2). 
CENSURE, may not be passed by one Lodge on member of another, 611.' 
See Reprimand. 



ILLINOIS ODD-FELLOWS' CODE. 353 

■ j^^ The figures refer to the sections "^-ll 

CEREMONIES.— See Work of the Order, Funerals, and Sees. 1044, 
1045. 

CERTIFICATE. No certificate to be signed by an^^ officer, unless issued 
by the G.L.U.S. or under its laws, 624, 1043, ^^S^ ; Lodge may give no 
recommendation but a card, or a certificate in lieu of it, 514. 

(I) of Credentials to Rep. Form prescribed, 74; if for vacancy, that fact 
to be entered in certificate, 79 ; no certificate needed at second session of 
Rep.'s term, 77 ; certificate in duplicate, one copy to G. Sec, one to 
Rep., 75. 

(Ill to Past Officers. Priuiafacie evidence only of qualification, and 
may be set aside, 30; given in course, without vote, 312; P.O. Deg. 
given to holders, at home or abroad, 312 ; to be presented to Dep. to 
get P.O.D's, 314 ; is warrant for giving G.L. and P.O.D's, 32. 

(III) Trustees' . Form for record of election of Trustees, 1017, and p. 297. 

(IV) Degree. Degree certificate not to be given till fees are paid, 443, 
861 ; on presentation to any Lodge, degrees to be conferred on holder, 
860, 861 ; Degree Lodges can give degrees only on certificates, 868. 

(V) concerning Eebel^ali Degree. Certificate to confer R.D., 884, 885; 
certificate of standing, with petition for R.D.L. charter, 889 ; certificate 
for membership in R.D.L., 907, 915. 

(VI) of resignation and in place of JV.C. Certificate of resignation to 
be given to withdrawing member if card is refused, 537, 539, 540 ; but 
not to be tendered until card has been refused, 539 ; certificate may be 
given in lieu of lost card, 573. 

(Yll) to members of defunct Lodges. — See Card, G.L. Withdrawal, 
and Practical Code, p. 262. 

(VIII) to obtain benefits. Certificate of physician, magistrate or citizen 
to be sent, or of a Lodge or Relief Com., 579. 580 ; the latter held con- 
clusive evidence of payment of benefits on a V.C., 580. " 

(IX) of membership in R.D.L. Issued by S.G.L. and sold as sup- 
plies, 1044, 1045. 

(X) to G. Rep. Made out in duplicate, etc., 14. 
See Dismissal Certificate. 

CHANGE OF VENUE.— See Venue. 

CHAPLAIN. Office in Sub. L., at option of Lodge, 222 ; service as Chap- 
lain does not make brother eligible to office requiring service, 223, 249 ; 
duty at funeral, see in Funeral Ceremony ; not imperative upon 
Lodge to have Chaplain, or prayers, 1098 ; Chaplain not finable for 
absence or non-performance of duty as such, 223 ; no one to be Chaplain 
but one who can act conscientiously and properl}^, 1098. 

CHARGE-BOOK.— See Ritual. 

CHARGES. (I) Parts oftlie written Work. None to be used but those 
ordered by S.G.L., 863. — See Ritual. 

(II) Dues, etc., cliarged 2ipon the'ledger of a Lodge. Officer must be 
free from all, at installation, 344; likewise, member taking W.C., 487, 
494- 

(III) Allegation of offettse , made the basis of disciplinary proceedings, — 
See the Practical Code of Trials, Divs. II, III and V, pp 274, 275, 
276; also, see Information, Prosecuting Committee, Trial, 
Offense, Accused, and the following, some of which are in the Code. 

Complaint often called charge, 642 ; are basis of Trial, 630 ; Lodge must 
act upon, 631 ; b^^-laws on charges not legal, 632 ; based on information 

24 



354 ILLINOIS ODD- FELLOWS' CODE. 

!^^ The figures refer to the sections ""^^ 

CHARGES — C^;z//;2z^^^. 

and on investigation by Pros. Com., 654; do not exist till Pros. Com. 
presents, 655 ; except that they may be brought against member of one 
Lodge by member of another, 644 ; may be withdrawn or revised, 670, 
672 ; may be preferred between application for W.C. and vote thereon, 
and arrest the grant of it, 498, 490 ; in same way prevent resignation, 
541; may follow refusal of benefits instead of preceding, 568. 
Proper coiu-se toward an offending brother of another Lodge is to prefer 
charges, 612 ; charge against Patriarch is best brought in Lodge, 613 ; 
may be against dropped or suspended brother, 617 ; separate complaints 
to be consolidated in one set of charges, 755 ; not needed in case of 
confession and self-accusation, 708; may not be set aside by Dep., 
330 ; effect of undecided charges, 735 ; officer is not suspended from 
functions by charges, 649 ; do not stop benefits in certain cases, 565, 
(8, 9, 11); sentence must be on charges brought, 709. 

CHARITY. One of the purposes of the Order, 454; but G.L. may not 
make assessments for that purpose ; Lodges judge what they can give, 
53 ; a G.L. may limit the expenses of a Lodge to purposes within the 
Order, but not make its charities in the Order await approval, 468 ; 
Lodges, if allowed b^' by-laws, may give to worthy objects outside the 
Order, but only from a charity fund, 458; only thus may Lodge help 
a former member, 593, and the widow of a non-beneficial, 598 ; donation 
to non-beneficiary may be made as charity, 554. 
See Relief, Donation, Aid, Calamity. 

CHARTER. (A formal document issued by a G.L. to authorize the exist- 
ence of a Sub. A dispensation is a temporary document issued b^^ a 
G.M. or G.P. for the same purpose. A warrant is a charter or a dis- 
pensation, the term covering both.) 

(I) of'G. Body. Basis of its existence, 2 ; may be taken away by S.G.L., 
and how, 2 ; may not be altered without consent, 2 ; forfeited if less than 
five P.G's remain in membership of G.L., 28; seat of G. Body desig- 
nated in charter, until legally changed, 35 ; charter fee, $30, 27. 

(H) of Sub. L., may be taken away by G.L., or during recess by G.M., 
for persistent disobedience, 123, 192, 197 ; unjust to take away without 
trial, 59; chartered name not to be of living person, 172 ; expired W.C. 
may be received with petition and dismissal certificates, 170 ; age of 
cards not limited, 170; residents of one county may ask for subordinate 
in other county, 171 ; two charters or a duplicate cannot be furnished, 
except in case of loss, 175 ; how duplicate is to be made out, 175 ; char- 
ter lost if Lodge or Encampment loses membership so as to have less 
than quorum, 180 ; can be restored only to one or more of original mem- 
bers, 180, 1058, T059 ; rnay be granted or refused by G.L., 166; granted 
on petition of five, ten or twenty, with W.C. of petitioners, and fee, all 
sent to G. Sec, 168, 173 ; in G.L., Com. State of O. reports on charters, 
155 ; erasure and change of names in charter not allowed, 175, 177; Dep. 
cannot take charter from Lodge without orders, 327, 330 (8) ; charter 
designates town or city, but not building in which to meet, 190; loss of 
charter is penalty for meeting in hotel or tavern, in 111., 189 ; charter for- 
feited by failure to meet or report, 193 ; charter of defunct or suspended 
Lodge reverts to G.L., 195, 196 ; if two Lodges unite, one charter goes to 
G.L., 200 ; Lodge cannot undo the consolidation and reclaim charter, 
200; loss of charter a penalty for failing to punish immoral members, 
201 ; charter in custody of N.G., 273 ; presence of charter in room neces- 



ILLINOIS ODD-FELLOWS' CODE. 355 

4@^ The figures refer to the sections ""©In 

CHARTER — C^«^'z;z2^^^. 

sarj^ to legality of proceedings, 972 ; if destroyed, G.M. is to replace at 
once, 176. 

(III) of defunct Lodges. (See No. II under this title.) Restored with 
all effects, etc., to a quorum of former members, or to one original mem- 
ber luider certain circumstances, 180, 1058, 1059. — See Revival. 

(IV) of Deg. Lodge D. of R. Issued by G.L. on petition of five or ten of 
each sex, certificate of standing and charter fee, $10, accompanying, 889 ; 
G. L's may devise their own form of charter for this, 181 ; forfeited on 
failure to report, 902. 

CHARTER FEE, of G. Body, $30, 27; of Sub. L., $30, sent with petition 
to G. Sec, 168, 173 ; to be paid by reviving Lodge if only one old mem- 
ber is on petition, 1059; <f Deg. Lodge D. of R., $10, sent as of Sub. 
L., 585. 

CHARTER MEMBERS. (The petitioners to whom the warrant for the 
Lodge and the charter thereafter are issued.) Must be five or more of 
Third D&g., 168 ; pa^' regular fees for deposit of card, and credited for 
advances, 441; charter members of Deg. Lodge D. of R., how qualified, 
889. 

CHARTER PLATE, made by G.L. 111.: impressions sold, 1048. 

CHARTS. Publication not prohibited, if no illegal certificate is included, 
1052; use of charts with improper emblems forbidden, 1053; sale in 
Lodge rooms forbidden, 1088. 

CHINESE excluded from membership^ 367, 543. 

CIRCULAR. No Lodge may issue without consent of G.M., 188. — See Aid. 

CITATION. Sec. must send with copy of charges, 656; is valid if by 
acting Sec, under seal, 659; what to do if accused evades, S60 ; mode 
of serving, 661, 662 ; fact of citing must go on record, 720. 

CITIZEN. Lodge should not join in public expression of regret for the 
death of citizen not an O.F., 1083. 

CIVIL OFFICER. Whether Lodge may join in obsequies of, 1083, 

CLAIM.— See Benefits. 

CODE. Law of this Code, see on page opposite the beginning of Chapter I ; 
Model Code, see p. 324. Six Practical Codes, pp. '2^g-2S4. 

COLLARS. — See 917, and Regalia. 

COLORS. — See 917, and Regalia. 

COMMISSION. (A document conveying authority, issued by G. Sire, G.M. 
or G.P., conveying authority to a regular or special Dep.) Necessary 
to make a Dep., 323, 892; in force Jan. 1, and for one year, unless 
revoked, 323, 892 ; powers conferred by it, 326 ; these powers not to be 
transcended, 326; to be read in Lodge and presentation recorded, 331. 
Form given in Appendix, p. 289. 
See Deputy. 

COMMITTEE, (I) of G.L., may not be appointed under unapproved 
amendment of constitution, 3 ; convention may be a committee of G.L., 
60; list of standing committees G.L. 111., 152 ; appointed by G.M. at his 
discretion, though requested to appoint from Rep's last chosen, 153 ; all 
committees appointed by him unless otherwise ordered, 115 ; precedency 
of reports, 95, 152 ; vacancies on committees filled by new appointments. 



356 ILLINOIS ODD-FELLOWS' CODE. 



4^ The figures refer to the sections "®|IL 

CO^njllTTY^Y. — Continued. 

153; references to laws to be given in reports when practicable, 164; 
standing committees to meet one day before G.L. for work, 165. 

Duties of Com. Credentials, 154; Com. Returns, 154; Com. State of O. 
deals with sundry business, officers' reports, charters, etc., 155. 

Com. Finance, 159 ; Jud. Com. reports on appeals, by-laws, and all mat- 
ters bringing questions of law only, 157 ; Com. Appeals takes all appeals 
except on mere questions of law, 158 ; Com. Printing, 161 ; Com. Rail- 
roads negotiates rates of fare, 162. 

Com. M. and P.D. reports M. and P.D. due to each officer and Rep., 163 ; 
may excuse absences of Rep's in certain cases, 81 ; Leg. Com. deals with 
new laws and with repealing and amending existing laws, 156 : Com. Reb. 
Deg. deals with matters of Reb. Deg. and Degree Lodges D. of R., 160. 

Reports of Com. Cred. take priority of all other business, 96 ; rules gov- 
erning the making of reports and consideration thereof, loi. 

(II) of Siib. L. Com. Whole may be closed by N.G., 985 ; Trustees are 
a standing committee, 1015 ; N.G. appoints majority of all committees 
not otherwise ordered, and V.G. appoints minority of same, 273, 287; 
committee not finable except under by-laws, 743 ; brother not finable for 
refusing to serve on committee, 746 ; vacancies filled at regular meetings, 
and how, 1009 ; committee may not add to its numbers, nor assign its 
duties, loio; nor draw on Treas. for money, ion ; committees on griev- 
ance or discipline and on examining visitors to be always special, never 
standing committees, 1012 ; may not transact secular business on Sunday, 
1013, 1014. 

Concerning Finance and Visiting Committees, see those titles. 

Com. to investigate proposals, special, 396, 401 ; one appointed by V.G., 
others by N.G., 273, 287; proposition goes to it in course, 396; N.G. 
cannot be member of it, 401 ; cannot report till next meeting, unless by 
dispensation, 401 ; their duties, 385 ; majority must report ; if new mem- 
bers are put on, they must wait a week to report, 401 ; two must concur 
to report, 401 ; report is not before Lodge till read by Sec, 987. — See 
Code, p. 252. 

Com. to investigate complaint: three members, who may prefer charges 
and become prosecuting committee, 639 ; their decisions final on the 
paper given them, 654, 655, 656; rules about majority and minority 
report from them, 655 ; may revise insufficient or defective charges, 672 ; 
prosecute in case of change of venue, 711, 712. — See Code, p. 275. 

Com. to take evidence : N.G. appoints one or more members of Third Deg., 
656 ; who must not be Pros. Com., 673 ; they take and report testimony 
of witnesses not of Order, summoning all known to be necessary, 656 ; 
their necessary expenses to be paid, 677, all reasonable evidence to be 
taken, irrespective of rules of the civil courts, 677, 682, 692 ; testimony 
of ladies, even if they have R. Deg., to be taken by such committee, 
687. — See Code, p. 275. 

Com. to bury brother, 1076, 1077. 

(III) Relief Committee. — See Calamity, Board of General Relief. 
COMPLAINANT. (One who gives to the N.G. an information.) Gives to 

N.G. private notice of offense, signed, 639, 640, 642, may himself be 
under charges, 645 ; may be holder of W.C., or member of Lodge differ- 
ent from that of accused, 644, 646; must not be on Pros. Com., 650; 
may revise and renew information, if case fails to come to trial, 672 ; 
name to be passed from one N.G. to his successor, 643 ; but not given 
up except on demand of Lodge, if complaint is malicious, 941, 943. 



ILLINOIS ODD-FELLOWS' CODE, 357 

4^ The figures refer to the sectzofis '^^^ 

COMPLAINT. (The information that a brother has been guilt3' of offense 
filed as the basis of proceedings against him, in 111.: local law). 
See Information, and Code, p. 274. 

CONFESSION. If accused confesses or pleads guilty, he may be sentenced 
without trial, 704, 705; if there is specific penalt3', no charges, evidence 
or trial needed, 708 ; proof of plea of guilty in civil court will convict, 679 ; 
confession justifies shortening time of proceeding, 706 ; confession not 
proper plea when brother wishes to admit facts and justify, 707. 

CONFLICT OF LAWS. If laws of a Sub. (G.L. or L.) conflict with those 
of a superior, the latter prevail, i, 2, 6, 7, 182 ; if Sub. L. obeys laws of 
S.G.L. while disobeying its G.L., it is protected on appeal, 183. 

CONSOLIDATION. (Union of two or more Lodges.) May be allowed 
by G.M. on petition of adjacent Lodges : how asked for and granted ; 
history of the law ; not dissolved by will of the Lodges, 200 ; G.L. 
tax paid after imion on all the joint membership, 1039 ; form gf petition 
given, p. 286. 

CONSTITUTION, (I) 0/ S.G.L. , supreme law of Order, i; one source 
of law. 8. 

(II) ofi G. Body. To be sent to S.G.L. for approval, and how, 3, 4; 
S.G.L. may strike out an illegal provision, even if previously inadver- 
tently approved, 5 ; may restrict legislation to representatives, 29 ; must 
be observed by the G. Body, 48 ; revised constitution must be dealt 
with as amendment, 46 ; new constitution ma^^ be reported b^- author- 
ized convention, 60 ; constitution enumerating some methods of raising 
revenue does not exclude others, 50 ; constitution providing for payment 
of officers and representatives excludes payment of P.G's, 51 ; a G.L. is 
justified in expenditures not forbidden by its constitution, 51, note ; if a 
certain majority is reqviired for amendment, the majorit^^ must mean 
members, unless representatives are specified, 47; vote by Lodges must 
be taken, if specified, 47 ; how Const. G.L 111. is amended, 89. 

(III) 0/ Stib. L. G. Body ma^- make, 58; Subs, cannot alter, 185; 
G.L. 111. has adopted one, and may amend at any session, without 
notice, 90, 943 ; G.M. ma}- not suspend or set aside Const. Subs., 119 ; 
constitution to be signed by person admitted, 417, 486; card to be 
returned to applicant by card if he does not sign constitution, 419 ; name 
not to be erased from consiiiution if member is suspended or expelled, 
784; constitution gives power to make by-laws, 831 ; interpreted by 
N.G., 944. 

Constitutions of G.L. and Sub. L's 111. given in this Code, every section : 
to find them, use tables, pp. 334-5-6. 

(IV) of Relief or Benevolent Association. ^1-A.y not be prescribed by 
G.L. when it has not created the body, 58. 

(V) of Red. Deg. L. Uniform constitution adopted by G.L. lil.; same 
given in full, 905 to 916. 

CONTEMPT. Lodge ma^- be guilty of, toward G L.; excepted then^by 
from protection of rule for delay and trial, 197 ; Rep. is guilty of, leav- 
ing G.L. without leave, 81 ; willfully refusing or neglecting to answer 
charges is contempt; penalty, expulsion ; so is refusing to pay fine or 
submit to penalty, 620 (15), 660 ; so is failing to answer any summons, 
622 ; charge of contempt to be answered even if Lodge is in error, 622 ; 
evading notice ranked as contempt, 660; expulsion for contempt is 
summar}^ requiring no delay, charges or trial, 665 ; one is not guilty of 



358 ILLINOIS ODD-FELLOWS' CODE. 

4^ The figures refer to the sections "="©11, 

CONTEMPT — Continued. 

it who appears by attorney or by written defense or waiver of defense, 
666, 667 ; record must show citation in case of expulsion for contempt, 
720 ; new trial to be given, if suitable excuse is given in case of con- 
structive citation, 663 ; in case of contempt, the charges are reported to 
G.L. and not contempt only, 1039. 
See Trial, Offense, and the Practical Code of Trials, pp. 277, 278, 

CONTRIBUTING MEMBER. Term used in our laws to denote a mem- 
ber who is not suspended, dropped or expelled, 764. 

CONTROVERSY, between Lodges, 788 ; political controversies not ground 
of charges, 627 (10). 

CONVENTION, may be organized by G.L., as committee to form consti- 
tution, but not to do any bindmg act, 60 ; except as authorized by 
G. Body, no convention of past officers or Subs, for legislation or redress 
of grievances is legal, 60, 186. 

CORNER-STONES. Ceremony for laying: forms prescribed, see in 
Books of Fur ins only. 

COUNSEL, accused has right to employ, 630 ; must be O.F's, 636, but 
must not be Lodge Dep., 330; Pros. Com. may employ, 653; N.G. 
must appoint to defend absent accused, 662 ; counsel may vote on trial, 
if qualified member, 696 ; appear in case of change of venue, 711 ; 
appearance by counsel obviates contempt, 667. 

COVENANT, name of a degree formerly the second, not now used, p. 321 ; 

The Covena7it and Ofiicial Magazine , a monthly once issued by the 

S.G.L. 
CRAZY. Benefits not to be refused to a lunatic brother, 565 (3). 

CREDENTIALS. — See Certificates, Committees, and Representa- 
tive. 
CREDITOPvS, not to be recipients of benefits, 589, 599. 
CRIPPLE. Special case, affecting right to benefits, 564 (10) ; not excluded 

from membership, 373, or office, 249. 
DAUGHTER. Laws as to giving the D. of R. to daughters, 874, 876, 877, 

878, 879. 
DAUGHTER OF REBEKAH.— See Rebekah Degree, Rebekah- 

Degree Lodge, Witness, Funeral. 
DEAF-MUTE, not to be initiated, and why, 369. 
DEBATE, rules of, in G L., 97, 99 ; officer of L. or G.L. loses no right of 

debate," 109, 272, 275 ; N.G. must not debate in chair ; 273 (see Robert's 

Rules of Order, Sec. 40, on his right) ; words used in debate, 627 (11) ; 

not allowed in trial, 694 ; not to be allowed to visitor by standing rule, 

965- 
DEBT, for mone}'- loaned on security, no reason for refusing W.C., 485 ; 

debt of Lodge for unpaid benefits, 563, 565 {14) ; does not affect benefits, 

565 (10) ; debt of defunct, G.L. not liable, 1^62. 
See Dues, Pecuniary Affairs, Suit at Law. 

DECISIONS, of G. Sire, binding on parties submitting till reversed, 20,22, 
8.6, but cannot set aside by-law of S.G.L., even if approved, 22 ; G.L. 
may reverse its own decisions, 48. 



ILLINOIS ODD-FELLOWS' CODE. 359 

41^ The figures 7'efer to the sections ""^^ 

DECISIONS — C^?z//;«<^fl'. 

of G.M. are valid until reversed, 20, 115, 122 ; and are valid without attesta- 
tion by the seal of his G. Body, 121 ; rare exception to force of G.M.'s 
construction of law, 120; G.M. decides appeals in recess of G.L., 115, 
791. 
Dep. makes decisions in his district, binding until reversed, but only when 
presented by Lodge or officers, 329 (i), 330 (2) ; appeals from decisions, 
see Appeals and 944, 962. 

DECORUM, offenses against, and power of Lodge, 530, 531, 737. 

DEDICATION, of Halls: form prescribed by S.G.L., see in Book of 
Fo7-jns only. 

DEFORMITY. Loss, mutilation or disability of right hand does not dis- 
qualify for office, even of N.G., 249 ; eligibility to membership of persons 
who have lost a limb, 370; deformity or mutilation occurring to candi- 
date after election, what Lodge m.ay do, 414. 

DEFUNCT. (Generall^^, see Chap. XXX, p. 232.) G. Officer having mem- 
bership in Sub. that becomes defunct may retain office by rejoining in 
one month, 17; without five P.G's in membership, G.L. becomes 
defunct, 28 ; Sub. L. becomes defunct by reduction below five, 180, 194, 
1054 ; Lodge defunct filling to meet in six months or to report for year, 
183, 1054; members of defunct cannot join other Lodges till they get 
cards, or dismissal certificates, from L. or G.L., 362, 395, 425 ; W.C. not 
invalid by defunction of L. or E. after issue, but V.C. invalid, except as 
proof of right to certificate from G.L., 508; issue of cards to members 
of defunct Subs., 756 (9) ; 1065-1071; Code,"^. 262 ; 889 to 893 ; character 
of applicant regarded, 1065, 1068, 1070. 
Lodge extinct by suspension or expulsion also called defunct, 1054 ; names 
andnumbersofl-odges defunct twenty years maybe used again by consent 
of G.L. , 1055 ; with this exception, name and number can be restpred only 
to former members, for whom effects are kept three years and funds five 
years, 1056-7-8-9 ; such revival does not restore all former members, 
394, 395, looo; G. Sec. authorized to sell effects, 1057; all functions of 
suspended Lodge cease, and how resumed, 1061 ; G. Body not liable for 
debts of defunct Sub. be^'ond assets received, 1062 ; funds may be iised 
by G.L., and how, 1063 ; W. and O. and other special funds to be held as 
trusts, 1064 ; effects of defunct pass to G.L., 477, 478 ; this is statute 
law. Amendatory Act of Incorporation, Sec. 2, p. 310. 

DEGREE COMMITTEE. Mentioned in Ritual, but no law as yet autho- 
rizes Lodge to create, 858. 

DEGREE LODGES. Created by G.L's to confer degrees onl^^ : origin, 
history, powers, etc., 167, 868 ; presiding officer is Degree Master, 868, 
note ; names of other officers, 868, note ; confer degrees only on certifi- 
cate of Sub. L., 863 ; but Lodg:es are not obliged to send their members 
to a D.L. they have formed, 867 ; D.L. may not confer D. of R., 873 ; 
nor meet on Sunday, 969 ; G.M. may not hold office in D.L., 128. 

DEGREE LODGE, of Degree of Rebekah. (Briefly, " Rebekah-Degree 
Lodge," or R.D.L.) Authorized b}^ S.G.L., and fundamental law laid 
down, 888 ; authority to create accepted by G.L. III., 889 ; G.M. may 
grant dispensations : ten petitioners, five of each sex, of certified stand- 
ing, with ^10 charter fee, 889 ; but no new R.D.L. where there is one, 
without consent, 890; Const, of R.D.L's, in full, 905-916: Const, of 
R.D.L. amended onh^ in G.L., 916 ; must report to G.L. annually, 901 ; 



360 ILLINOIS ODD-FELLOWS' CODE, 

M^ The figures refer to the sections ""©gL 

DEGREE \JdT>CyY. — Continued. 

charter forfeited by failure to report for thirty days after set time, 902; 
Sub. L's not obliged to send members to R.D.L. to get the Degree 
of Reb., 867 ; R.D.L. may confer the degree on non-members, or may 
refuse, and how, 884, 907 ; certificate required, 884, 885, 915. 

Who are eligible to membership, 874, 880; R.D.L. ballots on proposi- 
tions, 886, 906 ; two-thirds majority elects, 906 ; mode of proceeding^ 
906, 907 ; fee may be required for membership, but not for the degree, 
887, 859, 870, 912 ; certificates, 884,885, 915 ; qualifications for member- 
ship, 888(4), 906, 907; admission by W.C. of R.D.L., 896; rejected 
cannot apply for six months, 907 ; loss of membership by same laws 
only as in Sub. L., 898, 907, 913 ; sister retains membeiship irrespective 
of husband's standing, or of marriage to person who is not O.F., 883, 
899 ; standing of divorced sister, 899 ; dropping, 913 ; reinstatement, 
907. 

Officers of R.D.L., and duties, 908-9-10 ; qualification and election, 911 ; 
term one year, 911 ; vacating office, 911; Dep. for R.D.L., 892,914; 
duties, 892. Quorum, seven, regardless of sex, 914 ; non- members can- 
not visit R.D.L., 895; R.D.L's grant cards, V. orW., 896, 1044; 
Appendix, pp. 296, 297 ; vote by " yes " and " no," 897 ; passwords, see 
Passwords: term P.W. not used in R.D L., 844. 

Other benevolent societies organized among R. Deg. members may not use 
ritual or degree work, or regalia, 903-4 ; regalia worn in R.D.L., 935 ; 
appropriation by Sub. L. to aid a R.D.L. is legal, 469 ; each G.L. may 
make its own charter for R.D.L., 181 ; committee on R.D.L. affairs in 
G.L., 163. 

See Degrees, VIL 
DEGREE MASTER, may not be created by Sub. L., 224 ; is presiding 
officer of D.L., 868, note; no P.O.D. or honors as past officer, 868. 
V.G. of D.L. is " Deputy D.M."; the Supporters are " Assistant 
D.M's," 868. 

DEGREE MEETINGS. Special meetings for conferring degrees, 862. 

DEGREES. {^Historical Note on all the Degrees, p. 320.) L Generally. 
G. Rep. receives in S.G.L. all degrees not already received, 15 ; officers 
S.G.L. must have R.P. Deg. and G.E. Deg., 19 ; visitors to S.G.L. have 
R.P. Deg. and G.L. Deg., 25; G.L. knows its own degrees only, and 
can require no others in officers or riiembers, 40; designated rank in 
card only shows degrees in which visitor may be tested, 522 ; visitor 
examined in degrees, how far, 520. 

IL G.L Degree. Visitor to S.G.L. must have, 25; G.L's work only in 
G.L. Deg., except G. Installation may be in Third Deg., 36; G.L. Deg. 
not necessary qualification for Dep. of G.M., 325 ; G.L.D. can be used 
at session only, and not given elsewhere, 313. 

G.L. Deg. due, without f^e, to every N.G. attending G.L., 31 ; evidence 
on which conferred, 32 ; necessary to membership in G.L., 72 ; conferred 
at special Degree Sessions of G.L., 86 ; how conferred on P.G. of 
another jurisdiction, 312. 

IIL Degrees of Sub. Lodge. How far imder local legislation, 69 (6),. 
958 (6) ; names, order and colors, 846 ; meaning of" Liitiatory Degree," 
846 ; rank or grade in new work of brothers, who took degrees before 
the change in 1881, 8^17 ; eligibility to degrees in one month, 848 ; degrees 
may be given imder dispensation, 849, but only after regular application, 
851 ; emergency excepted, not more than two given at one meeting, 848 ; 



ILLINOIS ODD-FELLOWS' CODE. 361 

1^^ The figU7^es refer to the sections "=©111 - 

DEGREES — Contmued. 

rules of application and ballot, 850 ; rules of opening and closing Lodge 
in degrees, 968, and Rittial. 
Ballot on but one applicant at a time, 852 ; six months after refusal may 
be new application, 853 ; arrears and fees paid before ballot, 429, 854 ; 
minimum fees, 433 ; fees must be paid before certificate to receive is 
given, 443, 861 ; character at applioation should govern votes on appli- 
cation, 857; degrees not to be given by "Degree Committee," but by 
N.G., 858 ; when V.G. may confer, 288. 
No Lodge confers degrees on member of other Lodge without consent, 
except R. Deg., 859 ; fees do not go to conferring Lodge, 443 ; any 
Lodge should confer on certificate, 861 ; certificate for conferring degrees 
away from home to be asked at regular meeting, 861 ; special or regular 
degree meetings confer, 862 ; no ceremonies or lectures to be used but 
those prescribed, 37, 863 ; rehearsal of other degrees or secret work under 
color of Odd-Fellowship not allowed, 864; rehearsal of " Old Work " 
forbidden, 864. 
By-laws may enact on degrees only fees, and forfeiture for non-usance of 
election, 958 (6) ; Third Deg. and R. Deg. as qualification for office, 
244, 247 ; no degree qualification may be required for benefits, 549 ; 
attendance at Lodge meetings not to be made by by-law a qualification 
for degrees, 627. 

■ IV. Third Degree. G.L. installation may be in Third Deg., 36 ; neces- 
sary qualification for petitioners for charter, 168 ; and for officers, 244 ; 
all business done in Third Deg., 968. 
See Third-Degree Members. 

V. Past-Official Degrees. Given for service as N.G., V.G. or Sec, but 
not as Per. Sec, 310; conferred at any time or place, on proper certifi- 
cate, 312 ; certificate for, given without vote or fee, 310, 312 ; P.O. Deg. 
may be given by G.L. or G.M to P.G. of other jurisdiction,, and how, 
312; given by Dep. or P.G. authorized by him, 312, 328 (6); maybe had 
at end of term of either office, 314 ; not needed for G.L. membership, 31. 

N.G. and V.G. of revived Lodge, or chosen by dispensation, may have 
P.O. Degs., 315, but not V.G. promoted in his term to N.G., 316; pos- 
session of P.O. Deg. is legal evidence of office passed, 252, 318 ; 
P.O. Degs. lost by neglectful shortening of service, 321 ; local legislation 
on P.O. Degs., 69, cl. 6; P.G. joining G.L. 111. receives P.O. Deg., if 
entitled, 32, 72 ; G.M. confers P.O. Deg. in person or by Dep., 115. 

VI. Royad-Purple and Enca7np7)ient Degrees, as dffecting Lodges. 
Member of G.L. having R.P. Deg. may visit S.G.L., 25 ; may not be 
required as qualification for office in G.L., 40 ; place of Encampment in 
procession, 1093 ; G. Rep. must have R.P. Deg. and membership in En- 
campment at election, 12, 143 ; regalia of P.G. who has R.P. 'Dt^., 918, 
919, 920, 927. 

VII. Rebekah Degree. Side degree, for Third-Degree members and wives ; 
is their right, without vote, but not obligatory, 870 ; given by any Lodge 
without consent of recipient's Lodge, 859, 873; given without fee, 859, 
870; G.L's not obliged to accept and introduce, 69 (6), 869 ; conferred in 
special meeting of Sub. L. or in Deg. Lodge D. of R. only, 888,867,871, 
872 ; eligibility to R. Deg., 874 ; rights of widows to R. Deg., 875, 879, 
880 ; daughters and sisters, 876-7-8-9 ; Sub. L. ma}" confer on any eligi- 
ble person, 871, even in jurisdiction of a R.D.L., 867; but Degree 
Lodge may not confer it, 873. 

Persons having R. Deg., if not suspended or dropped, may visit Lodge open 
in R. Deg., 882 ; cards for R. Deg. members, 482, 896, 1044, Appendix, 



362 ILLINOIS ODD-FELLOWS' CODE, 

4^" The Jigures refer to the sections ""©H 

DEGREES — Continued. 

pp. 295-6-7 ; restrictions on societies formed among those having R, Deg., 
903-4; regaha of R. Deg., 934; use of A.P.W., D. of R., 843; lady 
having R. Deg. not admitted to Lodge as witness, 687 ; at funeral of sis- 
ter of R. Deg., Lodge may not use funeral service or attend in regalia, 
except as G.M. permits, 1080-1-2 ; R. Deg. as qualification for office, 
247-8 ; officer illegally installed without R. Deg. to take the degree and 
be reinstalled, 345 : Com. R. Deg. in G.L. 111., i6o. 
See Degree Lodges D. of R.; Cards, Certificates. 

DEGREE SESSIONS of G.L., law for, 34, 85. 

DEPOSIT of Cards. — See Admission by Card. 

DEPOSITION, in trials, how taken, 675, 715. 

DEPUTY GRAND MASTER, his powers and duties, 130, 87, 34.— See 
Grand Officers. 

DEPUTIES OF THE GRAND MASTER. I. Lodge Deputy Grand 
Master, or L.D.G.M. An office in Illinois equivalent to the D.D.G.M. 
of other jurisdictions, 322, note. 
Representative of Lodge becomes Dep. G.M. approving, 322 ; general 
statement of powers and duties, 328, 329, 330; not Dep. until commis- 
sioned, 323 ; commission goes into force Jan. i, for one year, 323; G.M. 
can remove or appoint at pleasure, appointing Rep. or not, 322 ; Lodge 
cannot elect or appoint a Dep., 324 ; G.L. Deg. not a necessary qualifi- 
cation, 325 ; how removed for neglect, 332. 
Powers given by commission, and not to be exceeded, 326 ; form of com- 
mission, p. 289 ; record of business to be kept by Dep. and reported to 
G.M.,328(7, 8); commission to be read in Lodge, 331; what dispensa- 
tions he may grant, and how, 329 (3), 849 ; forms given, p, 300 ; all others 
reserved to G.M., 330(1): have duty in installing prescribed by law, 327 ; 
but may not take away charter, nor introduce visitors as elective officers 
may, 149, 327, 330(8). 
Entitled to honors like G.M. when on official business, 327 ; may not take 
control from N.G. nor make appointments of officers, 330 (8); may not 
install member under charges, 330(7); nor refuse to install because 
reports have not been examined, 343, but must see them registered, 343 ; 
may employ other P.G. to install for him, 338 ; nothing paid Dep. for 
visits in his own town, 354; Dep. gives P.O. Deg., 312, 314; Dep. gives 
S.A.P.W. and A.T.P.W., at installation, 829, 833-4; may give dispen- 
sation for conferring degrees only after regular application has been 
acted on, 849, 851 ; may not set aside by-laws of Lodge, 951. 
Dep. may not give dispensation to admit non-resident, 375 ; an official 
instructor has power of Dep., 145 ; instructions of Dep. yield to those of 
G. Instructor, 146 ; Dep. acting for G.M. makes binding decisions, 328 ; 
stays illegal or irregular proceedings, 328 (2); decides questions presented 
to him, only, 329 (i), 330 (2); form of decision, 329 (i) ; appeal from his 
decision goes to G.M. or G.L., 791(5); Dep. cannot set aside legal 
charges, 330(4) ; Dep. cannot remove officer, 330 (8); nor set aside ballot 
except upon legal reasons assigned, 330 (5) ; Dep. may not act as attor- 
ney for accused in a trial, 330(6) ; Dep. required specially to see law of 
election and record of Trustees, etc., observed, 1017 ; may not grant 
new trial, 664; can, in case of appeal, stay proceedings to await G.M's 
decision, and thus may suspend sentence, or payment of money, but not 
arrest trial, 329 (2), 730 ; Dep. is eligible to office, 106 ; is entitled to 
have answer from G.M. or G. Sec, 127. 



ILLINOIS ODD-J^ELLOWS' CODE. 363 

4^ The Jigiires refer to the sections ^@|L 

DEPUTIES OF THE GRAND ^IK^TY.-^ — Continued. 

II. Special Deputy. Appointed to institute Lodge, 178, and is its 
L.D.G.M. till another is appointed, 333 ; traveling expenses paid by 
Lodge instituted, 178 ; function as instituting officer, ends with report to 
G.M., 179 ; may be appointed to close Lodge and receive its effects, 196. 
[Special Dep. is subject to the laws governing a L.D.G.M., see above.] 

III, Deputy of R.D.L., appointment and powers, 892, 914. 

DIGESTS, (I) of S.G.L. The Griffin Digest of 1847, source of law, and 
why, 8 ; all others of inferior authority, 8 ; others are that of 1853, 
Moore's, the U.S. Digest of 1864, Ellis's ; those of 1870 and 1882, 
White's. This Code is made directly from the Journals of the S.G.L. , 
and of the G.L. 111., and without use of Digests, except the Griffin Digest. 
(II) of Illinois. Full account, p. 318. Code, Digests and Journals to be 
referred to by committees of G.L. in reports, 164. 

DINNER, fimds not usable for, 51. 

DIPLOMA. (A handsome engraved certificate of membership in the Order.) 
Included in s^ipplies, 1044; issued by S.G.L. only, 1042(3); publication 
forbidden to private parties, 624 ; all officers forbidden to sign any but 
that of the S.G.L., 624, 1043 ; who may purchase, 1045 ; how signed, 1047. 

DISABILITY. (A condition into which one is brought by some act or neglect, 
whereby he loses a right or privilege that would otherwise have been 
his. Deprivation of benefits and suspension are disabilities.) N.G. 
enforces b^'-law provisions of disability for N.P.D., 738; deprivation of 
benefits is a disability for N.P.D., and for that only, 565-6, 729; other 
disabilities for arrearages, 764 ; former disabilities upon non-reporting 
Lodges, 1031 ; sundry, equivalent to suspension, 736. 

DISCIPLINE.— See Chaps. XVII, XVIII and XIX generally; especially 
see titles Charges, Trials, Penalties, and Code of Trials, p. 274. 
Discipline never referred to P.G's or to an^' part of Lodge, 633. 

DISMISSAL CERTIFICATE, is certificate of former membership, 391, 
392, 482; taking, ends membership, 487; to whom and how issued, 
756 (6), 772 ; form, 773 ; sold as supplies, like card, 756 (10); receivable on 
deposit, 542, 756(10), or with petition for new Lodge, 168, 170; issued 
without vote on proper application, and may not be refused, 501 ; does 
not carr}" A.T.P.W., or right to visit, 542, 756(10), 774, 834 ; how holder 
is ranked under new M^ork of 1880, 847 ; may not be introduced to visit 
by G. Officer, 149. 

DISMISSION of Charges, 652, 670, 672. 

DISORDER, may cause exclusion of member or visitor, when and how, 
530. 531, 737- 

DISPENSATION. (A permission to do an act forbidden except when allowed 
by the discretion of a superior officer ; also, a warrant for the opening of 
a Lodge or Encampment). G. Sire cannot suspend law by dispensation, 
22 ; G.M. cannot suspend Const. Subs, nor set aside by-law by dis- 
pensation, such authority being void, 119, 951 ; Dep. has power to grant 
sundry, others reserved to G.^L, 329, 330; G.M. issues dispensation to 
consolidate two Lodges, 200; dispensation for festivals, etc., from G.JNI. 
only, 212-13-14-15, 933 ; general dispensation to hold celebration does 
not authorize festival without special dispensation, 1087; dispensation 
not to be issued b}- installing officer, unless he has authority, 353. 



364 



ILLINOIS ODD-FELLOWS' CODE. 



4^ The figures refer to the sections '^©IL 

DISPENSATION — Continued^. 

Dispensation of G.L. or G.M., cannot shorten term of service, or sus- 
pend meetings of Lodge without loss of honors of office, 321 ; no dispen- 
sation required by general laws for admission of person forty-five years 
of age or over, 365, 366 ; dispensation cannot authorize membership of 
non-resident, 375 ; if dispensation allows Lodge to ask aid, it is lawful to 
give it, 456 (17) ; dispensation cannot authorize suspension of benefits, 
552 ; dispensation cannot authorize charitable donation out of the Order 
from general fund, 593 ; dispensation to wear regalia at funeral of 
Daughter of Rebekah, how granted, 1018-2 ; dispensation may authorize 
a shortening of course of admission, 329 (3), 401 ; degrees may be 
given sooner by dispensation, 849 ; or by dispensation, three degrees at 
one meeting, 848 ; but dispensation may not give degree without legal 
application in Lodge, 851 ; dispensation not needed for change of hall of 
meeting, 971 ; Third-Degree member may be elected N.G, or V.G. by 
dispensation, and when, 250. 
See Warrant. 

DISSOLUTION, of Lodge, not subject of by-law, 958 (4). 

DISTRIBUTION, illegal.— See Division. 

DISTRICTS, not now recognized in 111. laws, 322, note. 

D.D.G.M. Office not existing in 111.; \)\\\. Deputy of G. il/a^^'^r is same office 
in effisct, 322, note ; see that title. 

D.D.G. SIRE. Laws respecting, apply to Deputies, 322, note. 

DIVISION, illegal, of Lodge property. Division of effects of Lodge is a 
violation of trust conferred by charter, 476, 620 ; G.L. must forbid, and 
may invoke aid of civil law, 478; G.M. to suspend Lodge attempting 
division, and to institute suits to prevent, 479 ; statiue provision on it. 
Appendix, p. 310 ; a certain form of funeral benefit is illegal division, 
600 ; parceling a cemetery among members is illegal division, 480. 

DIVORCE. Divorced woman may be witness, 686 ; or member of R.D.L., 
874, 879 ; when entitled to A.P.W., D. of R., 899. 

DIVULGING matters not private, is no offense, 627 (6). 
See Secrecy. 

DONATION, of fees and dues, not allowed, 441, 453 ; one of the objects 
of the Order and not subject to G.L., except under general law, 468; 
may be to objects out of Order from special fund only, 458 ; if donation 
is asked under dispensation, it is legal, 456 (17) ; may be made to help 
new Sub, or R. Deg. Lodge, 469; donation may be given to non-beneficial, 
554 ; cannot be made contrary to laws, 454-5-6-7-8. ' 

DOOR, in charge of V.G., 287. 

DROPI'ED member, cannot join other Lodge, 362 ; connection with Lodge 
not entirely severed ; trial continues if under charges ; must be brought 
to trial if disreputable, 617 ; if arraigned, must be admitted to Lodge 
room, 716. Persons formerly expelled for N.P.D. are treated as dropped, 
813; dropped, are excluded from burial by the Order, 762, 1074; name 
not erased from list of signatures, 821, nor sent to other Lodges, 775 ; may 
appeal, 795 ; may take dismissal certificate, 756 (5, 6, 7, 8), 772, and 
Code , p. 258 ; how reinstated. Code of Membership^ p. 256. 
See Dropping, Reinstatement. 



ILLINOIS ODD-FELLOWS' CODE. 365 

4®" The figures refer to the sections "=©11 

DROPPING, same as indefinite suspension, for N.P.D., 617, 756 (i). Pre- 
requisites for and mode of procedure, see Code of Membership, p. 258. 
Dropping in R.D.L., 907, 913. 
See Dropped, Non-Payment of Dues. 

DRUNKENNESS.— See Intoxication. 

DUES. Three meanings of the word, inckiding weekly contributions, regu- 
lar and special taxes, and fines, 434; minimum rates, 430 : Lodge must 
fix rates in by-laws, 430, 431, 435 ; dues accrue weekly, 435-6 ; have not 
accrued till time charged for is past, 436, 765 ; may not be required in 
advance, except for V.C., and under certain laws, 435, 504; payable 
at any time before dropping, 436, 761 ; Per. Sec. must receive, in recess, 
and pa^^ment counts from time when made, 446, 451 ; payment to Treas. 
is not legal payment unless he is Per. Sec./r(? teiu., 445, 446. 
Giving note for dues is illegal, 444 ; Secretaries, but no other officers, 
exempt from dues, 291, 297, 269 ; brother taking V.C. pays in advance, 
even if exempt officer, 449, 450, 504 ; dues cannot be remitted or donated, 
or counted a loan, except on reinstatement, 444, 453, 817 ; run against 
suspended member, 451 ; but not for time of expulsion, if one is rein- 
stated; but dues accrue during illegal expulsion, 452 ; brother's rights 
not lost by arrears, if he has paid all that Per. Sec. demanded, though 
too little by error, 447, 770 ; payments appl}' on account in order, 429. 
Duty of Per. Sec. to notify of arrears, 297, 763, 766-7; change of rate of 
dues affects holder of V.C., 437; how dues are distributed to funds, 
473 ; officer must be free from, at installation, 344 ; Lodge must, 
but brother may not, offset benefits and dues, 474, 563, 565 (4) ; Lodge 
deducts dues from benefits, 563 ; holder of W.C. cannot pa^^ dues and 
receive benefits, 557 ; dues must be paid before vote on card, 494 ; 
advanced dues to be repaid on grant of W.C., and to one paying in 
error after taking W.C, 497 ; rate chargeable at reinstatement, 783 ; dues 
in R.D.L., 888, 912, 913 ; may not be increased as a penalty, 771. 
See Non-Payment of Dues, Benefits, Reinstatement, Fees, etc. 

DUPLICATE, of charter, not allowed, except for loss, 175 ; furnished in 
case of loss, 176 ; duplicate of W.C., when allowed and required, 513; 
duplicate of reports recorded, 1039 (i), 

EDDY'S Tactics and Drill, its Funeral Ceremon^^ not adopted, 1073. 

EDIBLES, no longer forbidden in Lodge rooms, 210. 

EDUCATION, institutions for, recommended, 11 22. 

EFFECTS. — See Property. 

ELECTION. No election of Dap., 324. 

(I) of Representative to G.L. When and how had, 73, 75, 78; Code of 
Elections , pp. 269, 272. 

(II) in Grand Lodge. All P.G's may vote, 29, but not by proxy, 43 ; 
but P.G's having voted without election. Reps, only may vote, 43; 
mode of election, 104; may be referred to P.G's in their Lodges, 42. 

(III) in Sub. L. — See Code of Elections, pp. 269-274. 

(IV) of Trustees. Held annually, in December, and how, 1016-7, 1019, 

(V) of Members. — See Code of Menibership, p. 253. 

(VI) in Deg. Lodge D. of R. Election of officers, 888, 911; of mem- 
bers, 906. 

(VII) in G.L.U.S. Election of officers, 19. 

See Officers, Ballot, Vote, Membership, Eligibility. 



366 ILLINOIS ODD-FELLOWS' CODE. 

4^ The figures refer to the sections ""^IL 
ELECTIONEERING, forbidden, 620. 

ELIGIBILITY, (I) in G.L.U.S., to office, 19 ; to membership as G. Rep., 
12, 13. 

(II) m G. Lodge. A P.G. in 111. is eligible to any office in G.L. except 
G. Rep., 143; G. Rep. must have R.P.D., be member of Camp, and 
resident, 12, 13 ; G.L. may not require Encampment Degrees of its 
officers, 40 ; no other limitations allowed, 106, 

(III) of Rep. to G.L. Judged by G.L., 30; Rep. must be member ot 
Lodge represented by him, and P.G. in good standing, under no charge, 
72, 75, 76; Jun. P.G. may be Rep., 227. 

(IV) of Deputy. Dep. need not have the G.L. Deg., 325. 

(V) officer Sub. L. N.G. cannot be Treas., 278. — See Code of Elections , 
pp. 270, 271, 272. 

(VI) to degrees. One month's membership required, 848, 849 ; worthi- 
ness of character should be found in candidate, 857; attendance at 
Lodge meetings not a condition, 627 (9), and note. To Rep. Deg., 874. 

(VII) to office in R.D.L. Qualifications given, 888, 911. 
EMBLEMS, form part of effects, 187; laws defining and prohibiting mis- 
use of, 620 ; Lodge may not sell so as to hinder work, 909. 

ENCAMPMENT. Place in procession, 1093; membership in Encampment 
not to be required of G.M. or other officer, 40 ; Scribe and Sec. to keep 
registers of Encampment members, and notify each other of changes, 
294; certificate of standing in Lodge to be given to brother joining 
Encampment, 296 ; Encampment card does not admit to Lodge, and 
vice versa, 382. 
See Degree, Royal Purple. 

ENDOWMENT associations may be formed, but G.L's may not assume 
control and responsibility, 56, 57, 1123 ; history of efforts in the Order, 
1123. 

ENTERTAINMENT.— See Festival. 

ERASURE, of name from charter, not allowed, 177; of name from signa- 
tures to constitution, not proper, 821 ; erasures to correct records, 
wrong practice, 997. 

ERRATA, in this book. — See after the Index. 

ERROR. Lodge responsible for errors of officers, 202 ; if brother pays too 
little by error of officer, his claims are not prejudiced thereby, 447; dis- 
ability from error of Lodge to be revoked, with all its consequences, 567; 
Per. Sec. may enter omitted payment at its true date, even if it makes 
brother beneficial, 299; benefits withheld in error to be paid, 567; if 
V.C. be given for W.C., and a Lodge pays benefits thereon, issuing 
Lodge must pa^^, 566 : funeral expenses paid by mistake are not recover- 
able, 591. 
Treas. may refuse to pay erroneous order, 304 ; if W.C. is granted without 
dues fully paid, balance may not be demanded, 497 ; if expulsion is errone- 
ous and reversed, dues accrue in intervals, 452 ; W.C. issued in error as 
to quorum, is void, 979 ; error in card, the Lodge visited cannot overlook 
or correct, 524 ; W.C. granted contrary to law is invalid, 494. 
Error by election to office of one ineligible, 345 ; membership not invalidated 
by error in election, 415 ; error suspected in ballot before result is declared, 
requires new ballot ; but after declaration, error must be shown, 409, and 
Lodge, not officer, may order new ballot, 410 ; Lodge may not reconsider 



ILLINOIS ODD-FELLOWS' CODE. 367 

4^^ The figures refer to the sections ""^gl 

ERROR — Contimied. 

vote to sustain charges unless error or fraud be shown ; how to correct 
errors in trials, 663, 700, 701, 721 ; errors are grounds of appeal, 787, 791; 
Dep. sets aside ballot or proceedings for error or fraud, 328, 330 : if 
Lodge errs and corrects itself, records should show that, 993 ; how to 
correct records, 996. 997 ; to correct returns to G.L., 1033. 
See Illegality and Fraud. 

EVIDENCE, (I) of inei77bership. Card is only pri7iiafacie evidence, 
502 ; W.C., even expired, is evidence of former good standing, 512, 517; 
card or certificate from G. Sec. is competent evidence, 509 ; '' satisfac- 
tory evidence " defined, 390 ; persons not having to be reinitiated, 388, 
392- 

(II) o?i claun of belief ts. Lodge may require evidence of sickness, and 
what, 570 ; certificate of Gen. Relief Com. is sufficient evidence, 580. — 
See Practical Code of Benefits, p. 265, for other items. 

(III) on trials. All testimony to be written down and recorded, 668 ; 
taken in presence of accused, except depositions, 630 ; taking of deposi- 
tions, 675 ; taking of evidence of non-members, 656, 683 ; this to be done 
by Lodge in which trial originated, 715 ; evidence on reputation, 68t. 

Evidence of lady having R. Deg., 687; evidence of wife against husband 
not allowed, except in case of corporal injury to her, 685-6; evidence in 
case of change of venue, 711 (22) ; value of ex-parte statements, 630, 
676 ; on hearsay and secondary evidence, 677, 686 ; new evidence may 
be introduced by either side to close of hearing, 682 ; trial, in proper 
sense, begins with hearing of evidence, 690 ; recorded evidence on a 
former trial valid in new one, 688. — See Code of Trials, especially Div. 
IX ; Witnesses. 

(IV) as to character. Reputation of accused, 681 ; for obtaining G.L. 
W.C., 1065, 1068, 1070, 1071. 

EXAMINING COMMITTEE, on card. Must be special committee, 
1012 ; of three, appointed by presiding officer, of highest degree, includ- 
ing V.G., P.G., or N.G. [orC.P. or S.W.], or brother having A.T.F.W.; 
to examine and introduce visitor ; not confined to A.T.P.W. and card, 
but satisfy themselves, 520, 525. 

EXCLUSION, from Lodge. No qualified member may be excluded from a 
trial, 689 ; exclusion for want of term P.W. is not suspension, 733 ; 
exclusion for any act without trial is illegal suspension, 736 ; brother may 
not be put out unless intoxicated or disorderly, 737. 

EXCURSIONS, treasury funds not to be appropriated for, 454; not to be 
had on the Sabbath, 1121. 
See Festival. 

EXCUSE, for absence, majority vote accepts, 739, 740; excuse of " out of 
town'' not available to officer residing out of town, 745 ; Lodge may not 
remit fine without legal excuse, 741 ; N.G. offers excuse to Lodge and 
V.G. puts questions arising thereon, 286; excusing physicians, iioi. 

EXEMPT. The Sec. and Per. Sec. are exempt from all dues, 291, 297 : no 
other officer may be so, 269. 

EX-PARTE, defined, 676 ; esc-parte statements reason for charges, which 
are ex-parte proceedings, but not evidence, 654, 676 ; ^jr-^^rz'^ examina- 
tion of brother's conduct forbidden, 618, except with his consent, 619. 

EXPELLED, (I) Lodge, called defunct, 1054 : cannot elect or install offi- 
cers, 241 ; all functions cease for all purposes, 1061 ; acts not voidable. 



368 ILLINOIS ODD-FELLOWS' CODE. 

4®^ The Jiguj'es refer to the sections ^^iH 

Y.yi^YlA.Y.Vi — Continued. 

but void, and cannot be made valid, 1061 ; members, if worthy, can get 
cards on consent of G.L. onl^-, 1067; how expelled Lodge can appeal, 
804. 
(iY) perso7i, can be readmitted to other Lodge or Encampment only with 
consent of expelling Lodge, 814 ; if expelling Lodge is defunct, he can 
rejoin only through his G.L. or G.E., 395 ; if the Lodge be revived, he 
should apply to it, 394 ; how reinstated, 813 ; if reinstated, he is in origi- 
nal position, 822 ; and no dues have accrued unless expulsion was illegal, 
452; expulsion for N.P.D. is treated as if dropped, 782; one expelled 
and dropped can appeal against dropping, 795. 
P.G. expelled from G.L. but not from Sub., ranks as P.G., 866 ; names not 
reported to S.G.L., as formerl}-, 750, note ; may appeal, 791 : no right or 
privilege gained by appeal before decision, 789, 790 ; expelled, even 
illegally so, reinstated only by G.L. or G.M., 811, 812 ; to rejoin, must 
have card or certificate from expelling Lodge, 363, 811, 815 ; petitions 
for reinstatement must show facts of the original case and evidence of 
reformation, 819 . 
See Penalties, Expulsion. 

EXPENDITURE. G.L. limited by its constitution, 51 ; may not pay 
P.G's attending G.L. when constitution specifies officers and representa- 
tives to be paid, 51 ; G. Sec. and G. Treas.show objects of expenditure in 
reports, 132, 134 ; legal and illegal objects of expenditure for Sub. L., 
456-7-8 ; charitable expenditures allowed in the Order, 468 ; and out of it 
if from proper funds, 458 (3) ; expenditures to celebrate anniversary, and 
what part of celebration expenses, etc.. Lodge ma\' pay, 457, 463, 456 
(7, II, 12); all objects recommended by G.L. are legitimate, libraries, 
organ, regalia, etc., 456 ; prohibited cases, 454, 458 ; duty to pay funeral 
expenses, 1074 ; G.L. ma}^ limit expenditures for anniversary, libraries, 
etc., 457, 1091 ; Fin. Com. audits expenditures, 1025. 
See Expenses, Festival. 

EXPENSES, of trial, 677, 726; of opening new Lodge, 178; funeral ex- 
penses not same as funeral benefit, 585 ; burial expenses to be paid for all 
members, 583 ; what are reasonable funeral expenses, 588. 

EXPULSION, (I) of Lodge. Must be conformable to local law, 48 ; on 
expulsion, effects revert to G.L., 195, 196 ; trial required in 111., 197; to 
take charter without trial is unjust and illegal, 59. 
(II) of member, severs connection with Lodge and Order, 361, 731 ; is 
extremest penalty, to be inflicted for serious offense only, 731 ; vacates 
office and position of Dep. and E.ep.. 324 ; begins as soon as sentence is 
passed, unless there is both appeal and stay of proceedings, 730 : G.L. 
ma^^ expel from self, not from Sub. L. nor from Order, 49 ; G. Sec. to be 
notified of, at once, 725 ; Sec. to notif}^ Scribe, when and how, 294 ; 
expulsion in one jurisdiction excludes in another, 363, 815 ; penalty for 
using seal or copy of seal on any illegal diploma, etc., 624; penalty for 
contempt, 665 ; in case of expulsion for contempt, report to G.L. states 
charges, 1039 ; how expulsion is voted in trial, 692, 697; can be voted 
only at regular meeting or one for trial, 703 ; ma}^ be inflicted on con- 
fession of guilt, 705 ; if illegal, may be set aside by aid of G.M., 721; 
recorded in Black Book and notices sent, 725 ; penalty for third convic- 
tion of drunkenness, 752 ; expulsion not always kept a secret; who may 
reveal, 757; expulsion for N.P.D. forbidden, 756 (i). 

EXTINCT.— See Defunct. 



ILLINOIS ODD-FELLOWS' CODE. 369 

ig®=- Tk2 Jigicres refer to the sections "=^§1 

FACTS. To be settled by G. Body in case of appeal to S.G.L. before it 
goes up, 807 ; findings of fact not to be reviewed on appeal limited to 
illegality, etc., 799 

FAMILY. Place of family helps show residence, 375 ; right to funeral bene- 
fits is in brother's family, not in him, 574, 587, 589 ; benefit goes to 
family of suicide, 565 (6) ; if benefit be refused for fraud as to age, family 
of deceased is made party to investigation, 569 ; benefits go to family of 
one not accused of misconduct during life, except in case of fraud as to 
age, 565 (8) ; family of deceased, not legal representatives as such, have 
claims upon the Order, 599. 
See Wife, Widow, Orphans. 

FEES. Funds from initiation or degrees are fees, 434 ; subject to local 
legislation, 69 (4) ; no admission to membership, no degrees, no reinstate- 
ment, without fees, 429 ; may not be donated or paid back, or remitted, 
and such agreement is void, 440, 441 ; but if members are founding a new 
Lodge, fees may be turned over to the new Lodge, 469; fee, full amount, 
accompanies proposition, 396-7; paid to Per. Sec. and goes to Treas., 
442; returned on rejection, 398. 
Lowest fee for initiation, $5 ; for degree, ^3 ; rates for admission by card, 
as A.O.F., on dismissal certificate, on non-beneficial membership, 433; 
constitution fixes minimum rates only, 431; no fee for P.O. Deg. and 
Reb. Deg., 310, 870, 912; charter members pay regular fees, 441 ; fees 
for reinstatement after dropping, 776, and after expulsion, 813 ; may be 
charged for admission to R.D.L., 887. Notes for fees not to be taken, 
444 ; brother not to suffer if he pays required, but wrong, amount, 
447-8 ; fees paid in advance for degrees, 854 ; refunded if degree not 
taken, 855 ; no degree certificate without payment, 443, 861 ; when 
Lodge confers degrees on member of other Lodges, the fees go to his 
Lodge, 443, 859 ; if Lodge admits person out of its jurisdictiorK, it must 
pay all fees to injured Lodge, 374 ; but if both Lodges in 111., law does 
not require degree fees refunded, 373. 
See Charter Fee, Dues, and Chap. XIV. 

FESTIVAL. None may be held in name of Order but by permission of 
G.M. and on conditions, 212-13-14, 1087; but Lodge may join other 
bodies or citizens in celebration of national festivals, etc., 214; dispensa- 
tion from Dep. for such procession, not festival, 329 (3) ; G.L. 111. requests 
no festival given to it, 216; Lodge funds and G.L. funds not to be used 
for festivals, 454, 458 (i) ; assessments for such purpose not enforced, 
463 ; no intoxicating drinks allowed, 210, 212 ; not allowed in connec- 
tion with any regular meeting, in Sub. L. or in R.D.L. , 211, 900; 
evidence must be shown to G.M. that Lodge is secured from pecuniary 
loss by festival, 215. 
See Anniversary, Celebration. 

FINANCE. When constitutionally assigned to management of Sub. L., 
G.L. may not interfere with by-laws, 947. 
See Committees, Funds, Fees, Dues, etc., and Chap. XIV. 

FINANCE COMMITTEE, in G.L., 152, 159. 

in Sub. L., a standing committee, 1015 ; appointment of three members, 
duties, 1025 ; examine books of Sec. and Treas. of their term, 297, 301, 
1035 ; bills appropriately referred to them, 460, but m.ay be paid without, 
460; pro-tem. member may be appointed, 1026; does not consider 
claims for benefits, 1027. 
25 



370 ILLINOIS ODD-FELLOWS' CODE. 

4®"" The figures refer to tJie sections "^H 

FINANCIAL SECRETARY, in R.D.L., 908, 910. 

FINE. Fourth punishment in grade, 728 ; not proper or legal penalty (in 
Illinois) for violation of principles of the Order, 728, 734 ; how assessed 
as penalty in trial, 702 ; not inflicted by N.G. except in enforcing by-laws 
about absentees, etc., 738 ; not to be assessed on one absent from home 
or sick, 740 ; unadvisable upon one at divine service or Sunday school if 
beholds official position therein, 744 ; officer liable to, imtil successor is 
installed, 745 ; when legally assessed, fines not to be remitted for other 
than legal reason, 741 ; how assessed when no meeting is held, 981. 
Opportunity for excuse must be allowed, 739 : except in trial, fines can be 
inflicted onl}^ under a by-law, 743 ; imposed for absence at roll-call, 742 ; 
on Sec. for not sending key, 747 ; may be penalty for official misconduct, 
748 ; but not for refusing office or committee work, 746 ; Trustees liable 
to, 1024; Chaplain not liable, 223; nor Jun. P.G. for absence, 227; 
allowed penalty for not attending funeral, 1078 ; but not for non-attend- 
ance of unofficial members, 646 ; local law may declare fines to be dues, 
69 (4), 434 ; charge on account must be disputed in due time, 564 (2). 

FIRE. Case of interruption by fire, 974 ; insurance against, recommended, 
1 109, 209 ; asking aid for loss by fire, disapproved, 209. 

FISCAL YEAR, of G.L.U.S., 27 ; of G.L. 111., ends Oct. 31st (Jour. G.L. 
III., 1880, p. 1026). 

FISCAL STATISTICS. What is required, 1032. 

FLAG, adopted for the Order, described, 942 ; political flag not allowed on 
Lodge room, 217. 

FOREIGN. G.L.U.S. alone introduces Order in foreign countries, i ; 
foreigner temporarily near Lodge not to be admitted, 375; member resi- 
dent in foreign country not deprived of benefits, 565 (2). 
G.M's must check introduction of subjects foreign to purposes of Order, 
117; new principles (as ''total abstinence") not to be introduced by 
Subs., 629, note ; see, too, 365. 

FOREIGN LANGUAGE. (The work of the Order has been translated 
into German, French, Spanish, Danish-Norwegian, Bohemian and 
Dutch : a translation into Italian was provided for in 1878 ; a translation 
into Welsh has been proposed.) 

■ A Lodge may use Rituals of different languages when it does not thereby 
interfere with any other Lodge in same place, 218 ; one case of Lodge 
working in two languages with two sets of officers is not a precedent, 
222, note ; Lodge working in two languages may have two sets of Rituals, 
one in each tongue, 1051 ; G. Bodies may allow Subs, to keep records in 
foreign tongue, on condition of translating records for G. Officers when 
required, 118, 999 ; Lodges in 111. have such permission, and keep 
records in working language, 1000 [under this Lodges in 111. work in 
German, French, Swedish, and Danish-Norwegian]. 
In trials, time must be given for translation, if either party does not under- 
stand language, 635 ; P.W's are not to be translated into foreign tongues, 
823; nor the title " I.O.O.F." 1084; applicant for initiation need not 
join Lodge working in his own tongue, but must understand the cere- 
mony and obligations, 378 ; if he cannot do this in nearest Lodge, he 
may join remoter, on dispensation of G.M., 378. 

FORFEIT. Forfeiture of charter by Lodge, etc. — See Charter, "Sub- 
ordinate Lodge, Suspension, etc. 



ILLINOIS ODD-FELLOWS' CODE. 371 

4®^ The /Igures refer to the sections '^^M- 

YO'^iY Y.IT —Continued. 

Forfeiture of honors by officer, is caused by resignation, no, 264, caused 
by absence, 261, 268 ; compensation not forfeited with honors, 270. 

Forfeiture of fees, admission and degree, 373, 374 ; of candidate's fee, 398 ; 
of membership in R.D.L., 898. 
FORMS. G. Bodies may make form of W. certificate for members of 
defunct, 509 ; for charter of R.D.L., 181 ; S.G.L. gives form for card for 
lad}' of R. Deg., not obHgatory, however, 518 ; all " forms " of chart, 
diploma, etc., published by the S.G.L., are its exclusive property, 1052. 
FORMS, in Appendix, viz : 

Appeal, p. 305. 

Bonds, Treasurer's, p. 298; Per. See's, p. 299. 

Cards, wife's or widow's, p. 295; sister of R. Deg., p. 295; V. card, 
R.D.L., p. 296 ; W. card, R.D.L., p. 297. 

Certificates , dismissal, Sec. 773 ; to confer R. Deg., Sees. 885, 915 ; appli- 
cants for R.D.L. warrant, p. 288; Rep. to G.L. 111., Sec. 74; for P.O. 
Deg., p. 288 ; membership in G.L., p. 289 ; to apply for Encampment 
membership, p. 292 ; election of Trustees, p. 297; witness, attesting evi- 
dence, p. 304. 

Charges and Citations, pp. 302, 303. 

Claim of Benefits, p. 265, in Practical Code. 

Coinjuission of Deputy , p. 289. 

Dispensation, p. 300 ; petitions for, see Petitions, below, under this title. 

Introduction, of visitor, p. 294 ; of elected, on card, p. 293. 

Order, for A.T.P.W., p. 293 ; for term P.W., p. 293. 

Petitions, for warrant. Sub. L., p. 285; R.D.L., p. 287; for removal of 
Lodge, p. 285; for consolidation, p. 286 ; for revival of defunct, p. 286; 
to Dep., for dispensation, p. 300; to G.M., for festival disp^ensation, 
p. 301 ; for permission to reinstate, p. 305. 
Proposition, for membership, p. 291. 

Report, of installation, p. 291 ; on proposition, pp. 291, 292 ; fiscal statis- 
tics, Sec. 1032. 

Trial, charges and appeals, pp. 301-5, viz. information, p. 301 ; charges, 
p. 302 ; citation of accused, p. 303 ; citation or invitation to witness, 
p. 303; O.B.N, and certification of witness, p. 304; change of venue, 
p. 304 ; appeal, p. 305. 
F(^RMS, Book of; see Supplies : it contains funeral ceremony, forms of pro- 
cessions, dedications, laying corner-stones, anniversary celebration, and 
other ceremonies, 1093, 1105. 
FOURTH OF JULY, Lodge may celebrate, and how, 1087. 

FRAUD, in application for membership, punishable, 615, 620 (7) ; misrep- 
resentation of age may be inquired into even after death, 565 (8), 569 : 
fraud by use of membership, card, or term P.W., 623 ; fraud in getting 
card warrants revocation, 505 ; fraud in indebtedness, an offense, 628 ; 
Treas. refuses to pay draft if fraudulent, 304; suspicion of fraud author- 
izes Dep. to arrest or set aside action, 328 (2) ; Lodge not responsible for 
fraudulently-obtained relief, 582. 
Fraud in ballot, vitiates it, 361 : Lodge decides on its occurrence, causes it 
to be set aside, 409, 410, 700 : Dep. sets fraudulent ballot aside declar- 
ing legal reason for his action, 328 (2), 330 (5). 

FUNDS, G. Body uses, subject to its own laws only, 51 ; subject to local 
law, 69 (4) ; Treas. is custodian of funds in every form, 301, 102 1; special 



372 ILLINOIS ODD-FELLOWS' CODE. 

4®^ The figures refer to the sections ^"©Ik 

"PX^Y^jy^— Continued. 

funds may be established by Lodge, 430 ; but not be merged into general 
fund after created, 471-2 ; under what circumstances may be merged, 
472 ; Subs, use funds only for necessary expenses, purposes of Order, 
beneficence and charity, 454-5 ; sundry prohibitions of use of funds, 
454-5, 458. 

See Division, Expenditures, Expenses, Libraries, etc. 

Lodge need not establish W. and O. fund, but may not use one when estab- 
lished except for original purpose, 571-2 ; special fund set off from col- 
lections only, 473 ; Lodges may loan funds, 475 ; funds of Subs, are 
TRUST funds, to be protected by G. Bodies, 476-7-8-9 ; surrendered to 
G. Body if Sub. becomes defunct, 195, 196 ; returned when Lodge 
revives with quorum, 1058 ; but not to less than five, except upon con- 
dition, 1059 \ how used by G. Body while held, 481, 1063-4. 

R.D.L. has power to use funds for charity and relief, 888, 912 ; Trustees 
cannot draw on Treas , 1021 ; only N.G. can draw funds, 278 ; G. Body 
liable for debts of defunct Sub. only to amount of funds surrendered, 
1062 ; Lodge or Lodges may raise and appropriate funds for asylums, 
etc., 1 122 ; funds may not be raised by lotteries of any sort, 206 ; surplus 
of collection for anniversary belongs to Lodge, 459 ; funds of two Lodges 
united by legal consolidation only, 470. 

See Finance, Dues, Fees, Revenue, W. and O. Fund, etc. 
FUNERAL. Lodge must bury every member not suspended or dropped, 
1074 ; members required to attend, 1074, but Lodge may conduct burial 
by committee, 1076-7 ; form of procession in Book of Forms, 1093 ; 
mourning badge, 939 ; funeral regalia, 936-7-8 ; permission or dispen- 
sation for wearing regalia not needed, 205, 933; Lodge may meet for 
funeral on Sunday, 969 ; need not be opened in regular form, 1075 ; 
three forms o^ Funeral Cerejnony in Book of Forv^s , 1072 ; no other to 
be used, 1073 ; Lodge not to join in public expressions of regret for 
citizen not an O.F., 1083, but may for civil officer, 1083 ; members finable 
for absence from ranks of Lodge though present with other society, 

1078 ; Lodge may not attend funeral of an A.O.F. and conduct services, 

1079 ; Lodge has not right to attend in regalia or use funeral service at 
funeral of sister of R. Deg. or of brother's wife, 1080 ; but may do so on 
permission of G.M., given after decease of a sister of R. Deg., 1081-2. 

By new law of S.G.L., in 1882, a R.D.L. may use the Funeral Service at 
the funeral of a member, substituting sister for brother. This law does 
not apply to Sub. L's. 

FUNERAL CEREMONY.— See Funeral, and Book of Forms. 

FUNERAL BENEFIT.— See Code of Benefits, p. 267, Div. IV. 

FUNERAL EXPENSES.— See Code of Benefits, p. 267, Div. V. 

GAMBLING, an offense requiring penalty, 620 (13). 

GAUNTLETS, not allowable as regalia [or street uniform], 940. 

GENERAL RELIEF Committee. — See Board of General Relief. 

GERMAN. — See Foreign Language. 

GIFT ENTERPRISES, not allowed in the Order, 206. 

GLOVES, plain white, as part of street uniform, 925. 

'' GOOD OF THE ORDER." Business may be transacted under this 
title, 990. 



ILLINOIS ODD-FELLOWS' CODE. 373 

4^=" The figures refer to the sections "^gl 

GOOD STANDING, defined, 1108; may not be defined by by-laws of 
Lodge, 958 (13) ; exists in L., E., or in Order, 361, 1108 ; necessary for 
membership in G.L., 72; may not be vouched for to obtain admission, 
527, 828 ; member not in good standing whose note is held for dues or 
fees, 444 ; " good standing " for purposes of returns to G.L. 111. defined, 
199 ; good standing in community to be shown to get W.C. from G. Sec, 
T070. 

GOSPEL — applies to both Old and New Testaments, as used in laws of the 
Order, 439. 

GOVERNMENT, resistance to, an offense, 620 (11). 

GRAND BODIES, exist by warrants of S.G.L., 2 ; only one of each branch 
in any state, etc. (though formerly two of each in New York), 2 ; 
supreme for local legislation, under general laws of S.G.L., 2 ; charter of 
G. Bodies liable to arrest only for violation of law, 2 ; and alterable only 
by consent, 2 ; constitution of G. Body (but not by-laws) and all amend- 
ments must be approved b}^ S.G.L. before they are valid, 3. Each 
G. Body has one G. Rep., or two if it has 1000 members, and pays tax, 
II ; G. Body may not choose alternate Rep., but provides to fill vacancy, 
13 ; may instruct G. Rep. on its own business, 14 ; G. Body may remove 
G. Rep. for neglect, by law, 18 ; G. Bodies may be assessed per capita, 
27. 
G. Body is judge of qualification of members, 30 ; must prohibit assemblies 
of their subordinates in convention, (i::> ; may not act under amendment 
of constitution until approved, 3; ma^^ make Const, for Subs., but not 
for volunteer associations, 58 ; may raise revenue for self, determining 
rate, manner and amount, 50; may omit portions of proceedings, 63 ; 
enforces adherence to Work of Order, preventing innovation, 37, 863-4. 
G. Body is advised to appoint Instructors, 38 ; may permit Subs. -of other 
G. Bodies to initiate or admit persons in their own territory, 62 ; make 
returns annually to S.G.L., 61 ; must have seal and send wax impres- 
sion to S.G.L. , 65 ; is entitled to copies of Journal S.G.L. annually, and 
how many, 68; matters referred to local legislation, generally that of 
G. Bodies, 69 ; must observe its own laws, 48 ; but may change laws and 
decisions, 48 ; use of funds of G. Body, 51 ; may not assess Subs, for 
asylums, charity, general relief, or libraries, 52-3-4 ; may not make com- 
pulsory life-insurance scheme or endowment, 55-6-7 ; may help Endow- 
ment Associations, and how, 56, 57 ; may hold special Degree Sessions, 
and how, 34. 
See Grand Lodges, and various titles, according to the subject sought, 
that suggest Grand Body. 

GRAND CHAPLAIN. Officer in S.G.L., 19; and in G.L's, 39, 103; 
Duty of G. Ch. 111,138. 

GRAND CONDUCTOR. Officer of G.L's, 39, 103 ; duty, 140. 

GRAND CORRESPONDING AND RECORDING SECRETARY. 
Former title of officer of S.G.L. now called Grand Secretary. Third 
officer in rank in S.G.L., 19 ; history of the office, p. 313. 
See other titles for his relation to business, and Sees. 21, 24, 65, 67. 

GRAND ENCAMPMENT, and G.E. Deg., 15, 19, 1093. 

GRAND GUARDIAN. Officer in S.G.L. and G.L's, 19, 39, 103 ; duty, 
141. 

GRAND HERALD. Officer G.L. 111., T03; duty, 142. 



374 ILLINOIS ODD-FELLOWS' CODE. 

4®^ The figures refer to the sections ""©IL 

GRAND HONORS.— See Honors of the Order ; called Grand Honors 

in 147. 
GRAND INSTRUCTORS. S.G.L. advises to appoint, 38; G.M. III. 

authorized to appoint, 145 ; their duties and powers, 145 ; to take prece- 
dence of Dep. of G. Master in instructions, 146. 

GRAND LODGE OF THE UNITED STATES. This was from 1825 
till 1878 the title of the body now called th - Sovereign Grand Lodge : 
See that title ; also Chap. I, p. i, and Historical note, pp. 312-13. 

GRAND LODGES {generally). M^ See inany laws of Grand Lodges 
under title Grand Bodies ; laivs of equal application to both 
branches of the Order are oftejt given U7ider the title 0/ Grand Lodge, 
but are Lirgely ti7ider Grand Bodies. — G.L. consists of P.G's, but 
may limit legislation to representatives, giving to P.G's right to vote for 
G. Officers, 29; five P.G's are necessary to constitute G.L., or it 
becomes defunct, 28 ; G.L. may not refuse P.G. membership for neglect 
of Lodge, nor charge fee, 31 ; is judge of his claim, 30. 
G.L. may not abridge privileges of P.G's, 309 ; work only in G.L. Deg., 36; 
officers named, 39 ; G.L. may make others, 39 ; may allow P.G's to 
vote for G. Officers in Lodges, 42 ; G.L. knows its own degrees only, 
and may not require officers to have other, as R.P.D., 40 ; may provide 
that P.G's may vote only in Lodges for G. Officers, 43 : for G.L. to take 
charter of Sub. without trial is wrong, 59 ; may expel a member from 
itself, but not from Order, nor appoint committee to try him ; may 
order Sub. to try him, 49, 610; may refuse to try a member on charges 
preferred, 49. 
4®^ Authority over a large variety of matters, under a reference of 
them to " Local Legislation," 69. Other matters relating to Grand 
Lodges, see under the special titles that suggest Grand Lodges, as 
Charters ; Officers ; Degree, G.L. ; Degree, Rebekah ; etc. 

GRAND LODGE OF ILLINOIS. See Chap. Ill, p. 20; for name, 70; 
powers, 71 ; organization and membership, 72-83 ; sessions, 84-88 ; con- 
stitution, 89, 90 ; by-laws, 91 ; questions and votes, 92-94 ; Rules of 
Order in full, 95-102. 
For other matters relating to G.L. III., see other titles imwlving inci- 
dental or secondary mention of the G.L.; see especially Grand Mas- 
ter and Grand Officers ; see, also, Historical Information. 
Appendix, p. 313 ; Act of Incorporation, p. 308. 

GRAND MARSHAL. Officer in S.G.L. , 19; officer in G.L's and G.L. 
111., 39, 103; duties, 96, 139. 

GRAND MASTER, (I) generally. Officer of G.L., 39, 103 ; is chief 
executive, powers and duties stated, 115 ; is during recess substitute or 
representative of his G.L., 116 ; not an independent power, but respon- 
sible to his G.L., and may not deny appeal from his own decision, 116 ; 
installs successor, 107, ic8 ; has supervision of Order, and may demand 
charter of disobedient Sub., 123 ; may visit Subs., and should install 
their officers (self or Dep.), 118, 335 ; right over their records, 118. 
G.M. entitled to "honors" when visiting officially, and should wear then 
regalia and jewel, 125 ; official relations are to Lodge, not to officers, 
126 ; may not remove subordinate officer, nor take N.G's chair, except 
to install, nor call a meeting of Lodge, 126 ; may take part in pro- 
ceedings of Lodge, 109, 272 ; cannot suspend Const. Sub., 119 ; has not 
power to let Sub. move from one town to another, except as G.L. gives 



ILLINOIS ODD-FELLOWS' CODE. 375 

-^^ The figures j-efer to the sections "^^ift 

GRAND IslK'^'YY.'K — Contimied. 

power, which is given in 111., 115; should not hold office in Sub, or 
Deg. L., 128 : can act under law while G.L. is discussing repeal of it, 
129 ; requires of Subs, conformity to instructions of G. Rep., 137 ; may 
allow Lodge to ask pecuniary aid, and how, 117, 207 ; may give consent 
for festival, etc., in name of the Order, on condition of a pledge, 212. 

G.M. may confer P.O.D's on P.G. of other jurisdiction on certificate, 312 ; 
G.M. cannot give honors of office by dispensation, 321 ; may not author- 
ize Lodge to suspend benefits, 552 ; must have A.T.P.W., given him by 
G. Rep., 841-2 ; G.M. cannot give A.T.P.W. to holder of W C., except 
in one case, 838, 835 ; gives P.W's only in line of official duty, 829, 835, 
841-2 ; signs certificates to members of defuncts, 509 ; issues such certifi- 
cates in case of lost books, or arrears, proved eood character, 1068-9, 
1070-1 : may have reinstating power conferred by G.L., 811 : signs 
diplomas, 1047; cannot of himself authorize lectures, 1118 ; decisions 
valid until reversed, 121, 122, with a rare exception, 120; addresses of 
all G.M's are published in Appendix to Journal S.G.L., each year, 66. 

(II) of Illinois specially. Elective officer, 103 ; may call special sessions, 
84, 85 ; duties as presiding officer by Rules of Order, 95-6, 98-9 : installs 
successor, 107, 108 ; fills vacancies in G. Offices. 114 ; duties of G.M. by 
constitution, and powers, 115 : communications from G.M. valid without 
G.L. seal, 121 : has power to authorize removal of Lodge from one town 
to another, 115, note : authorized to appoint G. Instructors, 145 : 
appoints Standing Committees of G.L. at discretion, not subject to 
rcquireimnts of G.L., 153. 

G.M. appoints D-,p., 322 ; can remove Dep. at discretion, or decline to 
appoint Rep. as Dep., 322 ; may remove Dep. on address of Lodge, 
332 ; Dep, is his agent in the Lodge, and reports to him, 328 ; reserves 
granting of dispensations not specially intrusted to Dep., page 290; 
approves at discretion applications for new Lodges, 115 ; his expenses at 
institution paid by the new Lodge, 178 ; may authorize consolidation of 
two Lociges, 200; his power to allow separation after consolidation, 200; 
must suspend Lodge violating law about festivals, 213. 

G.M. is instructed to prevent division and appropriation of property of 
Lodges, 479 ; can give P.W. only in discharge of official duties, etc., 
829, 835, 841-2 ; may grant warrants for R.D.L's, 889 : examines and 
decides appeals, 791 (7) ; may demand appeals from Lodges, 791 (8) ; 
acts on petitions for reinstatement, 8ti, 820 ; cannot approve by-laws of 
Sub., 951 ; may give certificates to suspended or expelled members of 
Defuncts, 1068-9, 107G-1. 

G,M. calls special sessions of G.L, to confer degrees, 34 ; his duty in cases 
of general relief for great calamity, 64 ; may not authorize outside charity 
from general fund of Lodge, 593 ; may give dispensation for degrees 
within one month, 849: institutes new Lodges by self or Dep., 178; 
issues new charter when old is destroyed, 176 ; cannot admit charter 
member without card, 174 ; may require Lodge to remove from imsuitable 
room, 191 ; must require indemnity for Lodge in case of festival, 215; 
may dispense with law of residence in certain case, 378 ; need not answer 
certain letters, 127; can present cases and questions to G. Sire, 20, 806; 
grants new trial in certain case of error, 664, 721 ; grants change of venue, 
711; appoints Dep. for R.D.L's, 892 ; makes and gives term P.W. of 
Sub. L. and R.D.L., 824, 894. 

List of Grand Masters of Illinois, p. 314. 

See Grand Officers : for subjects incidentally involving the G.M., see 
corresponding titles. 



376 ILLINOIS ODD-FELLOWS' CODE. 

4®^ The Jigures refer to the sections ""^H 

GRAND MESSENGER. Officer of S.G.L., 19 ; history of office, p. 313. 

GRAND OFFICERS, (I) gerierally. Term is one year, or two, if G.L. 
meets biennially, 33 ; may have honors when term is shortened by change 
of time of meeting of G. Body, 41 ; office not vacated by taking W.C. or 
extinction of Sub. if card is deposited in one month, 17 ; right to vote, 
etc., in Subs, not abridged, 109, 272; lose honors by resigning, no; 
lose office by suspension in Sub. L., 113, 749; received with G. Honors 
when on official business, 148 ; when he may have two votes, 44; what 
officers hold Degree Sessions of G.L. , 34. 
G. Officers give P.W's only on official duty, 838 ; may visit R.D.L's 
officially, 894; visiting Subs, give address, and receive G. Honors after 
recognition, 147 ; how received in other jurisdictions, 147 ; if elective, 
may introduce visitors without usual examination, 149, 150, 535, in his 
own branch of Order only, 149, but not before Sub. L. is open, 526, 
nor unless sure of good standing, 150, thus not on expired W.C., 512 ; 
G. Officers themselves give P.W. at outer door, 833; may not sign 
diploma or certificate not issued by S.G.L., 1043. 

(II) specially. Of S.G.L., named, 19; duties, etc., 19, 21; of G.L. , 
named, 39 [power and duties, find by titles in this Index]; their jewels, 
922 ; may not rehearse " Old Work " or spurious work or degrees, 864; 
in public installation, elective G. Officer outranks Dep. and conducts it, 
357- 

(III) particularly in G.L. III. List of, 103 ; eligibility, 106, 143 ; elec- 
tion, 104 ; installation, 36, 107-8 ; duties of, 144 [and see titles in this 
Index]; trial of, in, 112; pro-tem. appointments of, 114, 115; regalia 
furnished, 151 ; reports of reporting G. Officers to be printed by G. Sec, 
132. 

Lists of the G. Officers G.L. 111. since organization, see in Appendix, 
pp. 314-317- 
GRAND REPRESENTATIVES, are the members of S.G.L., 10; each 
G. Body has one, may have two, 11 ; when G. Rep. gives two votes, ii ; 
can represent but one G. Body, and resides in its territory, 13 ; how 
chosen, classed, and term of office, 13 ; no alternate G. Rep., i,^ ; may be 
instructed, and how instructions may be presented, 14 ; must have certifi- 
cate and all necessary documents ; receives G.E. and side degrees, but 
no privilege thereby, 15 ; is not G. Rep., nor entitled to use regalia of 
G. Rep. until recognized by S.G.L., 13. 

S. G.L. judges of his election, 15 ; addressed in debate as Representative , 
13 ; effect of his taking W.C., 17 ; does not forfeit seat by absence at first 
session unless under law of his G. Body, 18 ; attendance in S.G.L. 
excuses for absence from other duty to G. Body, 18 ; duty to give 
instruction, 137 ; qualifications needed, 12, 13, 15 ; may send questions 
of law to G. Sire, 20; may vouch for visitor from his jurisdiction to 
S.G.L., and how, 25 ; is a G. Officer in his own G. Body, 136; elective, 
if laws so provide, 136. 

G. Rep. not admitted to S.G.L. if his G. Body is in arrears, 65 ; G. Rep. 
loses no right in his own Lodge and gains no privilege in his G.L. by his 
office beyond what its laws give, 109 ; duty, 135, 137 ; G. Rep. of G.L. 
can introduce visitor by privilege into an Encampment, and vice versa, 
535 ; transmits A.T.P.W. from G. Sire to G.M., 841 ; regalia of G. Rep., 
923; G. Rep. may vote on appeal from his own G. Body, 16; place in 
procession, 1095 ; rank of G. Rep. of G.E. given in card from Lodge, 521. 

List of G. Reps, from Illinois, Appendix, pp. 316-17. 



ILLINOIS ODD-FELLOWS' CODE. 377 

4^ The figures refer to the sections '"^^ 

GRAND SECRETARY, {Y) of S.G.L. See Grand Corresponding and 
Recording Secretary. 
(II) of a Grajid Lodge, and especially of Illinois. An elective G. Offi- 
cer, 39, 103 ; sends returns of G.L. to G.L.U.S., with address of self 
and the G.M., and the place and time of meeting of G.L. , 66 ; has charge 
of G. Seal, 121 ; duties of G. Sec. as recording and corresponding officer, 
etc., 132 ; G. Sec. gives bond, 134 ; G. Sec. has Dep. as his agent in Sub. 
L., 328 ; his accounts examined by Fin. Com in G.L., 159 ; petitions for 
new Lodges go to G. Sec, who forwards warrant, etc., 173 ; must attend 
Degree Sessions of G.L., 34 ; not required to answer all letters, 127 ; how 
money is sent to G. Sec; in case of loss or imcurrent funds, 220 ; is to 
receive duplicate of Rep.'s certificate and installation report, 75 (3), 360; 
signs and issues certificates to members of defunct Subs., 1065, 1069-70- 
71 ; receives and examines appeals for form, and, if sufficient, forwards 
to G.M., or otherwise returns them for correction, 791 ; may demand 
appeal papers, when known to be due, 791 ; to preserve term reports 
containing signatures, 1036 ; authorized to prescribe forms for returns of 
Subs. ; his instructions to have force of law, 1038-9 ; G. Sec. distributes 
Journals, and how, 1041 ; sells supplies, 1044; prints prices on cover of 
Journal, 1044 ; sells for cash only, 1045 ; sells charter plates, 1048 ; sells 
cards only upon order of L. or E. under seal, or to Reps, at G.L., 1049. 
List of G. Sees, G.I-..U.S. and of 111., Appendix, pp. 313,316. See Grand 
Officers. 

GRAND SIRE. Powers and duties, presiding, superintending, deciding, 
20 ; can hold no other office, 20 ; has executive and judicial functions, 
22 ; cannot suspend a law, 22 ; no question goes to him from Sub. L. or 
E. under a G. Body, 20 ; may make official visits, and how, 23 ; cannot 
authorize application for aid by Subs, under G. Body, 208; gives 
A.T.P.W. and A.P.W. D. of R., 823; sends it out by G. Reps., or by 
other safe channel, 841-2 ; cannot authorize a G.M. to communicate it, 
838 ; must prefer charges against managers of offending periodical, 
941 ; may decide appeals submitted, 8c6 ; duty in case of great calamity, 
64 ; may sometimes change place of meeting of S.G.L., 24. 
List of G. Sires, Appendix, p. 312. — See Grand Officers, Sovereign 
Grand Lodge, etc. 

GRAND TREASURER. Elective officer of S.G.L. , 19; duty as to 
calamity fund, 64 ; and of G.L's, 39, 103 ; official duties, etc, 133-4 ; his 
accounts go to Fin. Com. in G.L., 159. See Grand Officers. 
List of G. Treasurers Illinois, Appendix, p. 316. 

GRAND WARDEN. Elective G. Officers of G.L., 39, 103 ; duty in G.L. 
111., 34, 131, 141, — See Grand Officers. 
List of G. Wardens Illinois, Appendix, p. 316. 

GRIPS, part of universal language to initiated, 823. 

GRIEVANCE.— See Offense. 

GRIFFIN, Digest of 1843, what, and its authority, 8. 

GROG-SHOP, — See Intoxicating Drinks. 

GUARDIAN, not to receive benefits of a lunatic brother, 565 (3). 
See Inside Guardian, Outside Guardian. 

HALF-BREEDS, excluded from membership, 367, 543. 

HAND. — See Deformity. 

HAT, in uniform, 924. 



378 ILLINOIS ODD-FELLOWS' CODE. 

4^^ The figures refej" to the sections ''^^M 

*' HATCHEL," use forbidden, 1113. 

HEALTH of a candidate, 372, 385, 416. 

HEARSAY evidence in trials, 677. 

HONORARY membership not allowed, 362 ; Reb. Degree is an honorary- 
degree, 870 ; P.O.D's are such, 310-11-12. 

HONORS of office, acquired by service through a term or at the close 
thereof, and lost by resignation, or vacation of office ; honors go to last 
incumbent of a term, however shoit the service, 110, 261, 264, 310; 
allowed to G. Officer whose term is shortened by change of constitution, 
41 ; none to officers of suspended or expelled Lodge, 241 ; forfeited by 
absence from official duty on leave of Lodge if absence covers majority 
of term, but not otherwise, 253, 268, and Addenda at close of this book, 
Sec. 268 ; no honors to officers filling less that fourteen weeks' term, 
238, T030 ; honors held b}' past officer passing into other Lodges, 318; 
honors regained by reinstatement, 822 ; honors allowed to N.G. and V.G. 
of new or revived Lodge, and to same elected without previous service 
in emergency, 250, 314 ; a brother is entitled to honors so far as he can 
prove his claim, 318 ; subject of appeal, if denied, 791 (2) : honors do not 
belong to any one not installed, 334. 

HONORS OF THE ORDER (called Grand Honors, 147). G.M. visiting 
officially entitled to honors, 125 ; G. Rep. likewise, 136; when given to 
G. Officers and visiting G. Officers and P.G. Officers, 147; P. G.M. not 
entitled to honors except when on official busines"^, 148 ; Dep. of G.M. 
visiting officially is entitled to honors, 327 ; officers and members of 
Lodge visiting in a body not entitled to honors, 536. 

HOTEL. Lodge not allowed to meet in, 189. 

ILLEGAL DISTRIBUTION of funds and property.— See Division. 

ILLEGALITY, arrested or set aside by Dep., 328; illegality of initiation 
does not authorize exclusion of visitor, 530 ; illegality of proceedings is 
no reason for failing to record them, 993 ; illegality of business without 
quorum, 979 ; illegality is ground of appeal, 791 ; how to correct ille- 
gality in finished trial, 721 ; illegality does not always invalidate action, 
979, note. 
See Error, Fraud, Offense, Official Misconduct. 

IMPRISONMENT or INCARCERATION, does not prevent trial: 
mode of proceeding, 661, 662, 679. 

INCORPORATION. Subs, may not accept till approved by G. Body, 
etc., 221; incorporation of G.L. 111. 1115; Acts in full, Appendix, pp. 
308-11 ; how Sub. L's are incorporated, see m Sees. 4 and 5 of the Act. 

INDEBTEDNESS.— See Debt. 

INDEMNITY, may be required by G.M, in case of festival, 215. 

INDIANS, excluded from membership, 367, 543. 

INDIGENCE, not by itself reason for benefits, 564 ; reason for extraordi- 
nary relief, 605 ; indigent relatives have no claim, unless dependent on 
deceased, 599. 

INFIDEL. Person so called not ineligible to membership, 365. 

INFORMALITY, 791, 799. 

INFORMANT, same as complainant. 



ILLINOIS ODD-FELLOWS' CODE. 379 

4®^ The figures refer to the sections "©&. 

INFORMATION. (Defined above under the title Complaint, which is the 
same thing.) 
For references, see Practical Code oj Trials, Div. II, pp. 274-5, and 

Div. Ill, cl. 2, p. 275 ; also the following : 
Information may be filecl between the application for a W.C. and the vote, 
arresting action on it, 498-9; may be against holder of W.C, 640 : if 
false and malicious, informant to be punished, 641 ; two or more against 
the same person coming at same time make one set of charges, 755 ; 
not dismissed for delay of Pros. Com. or absence, 652 ; if it is found to 
be without sufficient evidence, complainant may fila again with other 
evidence, 672. 
See Charc;es. 

INFORMATION, HISTORICAL.-See Titles in this Index, and Ap- 
pendix V, pp. 312-325. 

INITIATION. Primary mode of obtaining membership, 361 ; not allowed 
to be joined with a condition to draw no benefits, 362; not to admit 
blind or deaf mute, 369 ; persons claiming but imable to prove former 
membership are admitted by initiation, 388, 389 ; A.O.F. not reinitiated, 
392 ; initiation not invalidated by illegality in election or form, 615, 979 ; 
is invalid if done by suspended or expelled Lodge, and cannot be made 
valid, 415 ; no part of ceremony to be omitted or varied from, 416 ; not 
election, but initiation, etc., makes member, 417; officers must learn 
initiatory work before installation, 271. 
Time of initiation determined by Lodge, 421 ; allowed on night of election 
or at special meeting, 422 ; may be postponed for reason, but not to pre- 
vent admission, thus not indefinitely, 414, 421 ; may be refused in case 
of permanent disability, 414 ; is complete when candidate is introduced 
to Lodge, 423 ; who may and may not administer O.B.N. , 282^- N.G., 
but not V.G., may give P.G.'s charge, 281 ; fee for, 433 ; fraud in 
obtaining, is punishable, 612 ; time of initiation not to be fixed in by- 
laws, 958(2); P.G. may be called to chair for initiation, 283 ; candidate 
can be initiated only in the Lodge that elects him, 420. 
See Eligibility, Membership, Work of the Order. 

INITIATORY, name of the grade into which one comes by initiation, 846. 

INQUIRY.— See Questions. 

INSANE, benefits due to, 565 (3). 

INSIDE GUARDIAN, appointive officer, 222 ; duties in Ritual. Excep- 
tion to law of address, 11 14. 

INSTALLATION, is regular induction into office, and necessary to hold- 
ing office legally, and to obtaining honors of office, 334. 

(I) in S.G.L., 19. 

(II) in G.L., may be held in Third Deg., 36; occurs at any time in ses- 
sion, 107; by whom conducted, 107-8; bonds of G. Sec. and G.Treas. 
approved before and at installation, 134. 

(III) in Sub. L. Conducted only by one who has taken N.G.'s O.B.N. , 
336; conducted by G.M. or Dep., 118, 335; or Dep. causes P.G. to 
install, 335, 338; reelected officer to be reinstalled, 231, 346 ; appoint- 
ments of non-elective officers made at installation, see Ritual; elective 
officef- must be free of arrears at installation, and appointed officer in 
good standing, 344 ; officer-elect failing to appear, resigning, or refusing 
to return to Lodge room, vacancy may be declared, and other member 



380 ILLINOIS ODD-FELLOWS' CODE. 

i^^ The figures refer to the sections ""^gL 

Y^'^TKIA.KTIO^— Continued. 

elected and installed, 257-8; if Treas. is not legally installed, no money 
to be paid to him, 298. 

Installation may be performed by N.G. in absence of G.M., and of all 
P.G's, 335 ; regular time, first regular meeting in each term, 340, 341 ; 
or at special meeting, not earlier than the regular time, 341 ; proper offi- 
cer failing to attend or provide, installation need not be deferred, 339 ; 
in case of vacancy filled, installation may be held at once, by N.G. or 
P-G., 339; Dep. may employ member of other jurisdiction to act for 
him, 337; N.G. must yield his chair at installation, 126, 346, 348; 
installation allowed only when returns due are made and sent, 342 ; 
installation not refused because reports have not passed to Auditing 
Com., if Lodge has accepted them, 343 ; report of installation to G. Sec, 
3t)o ; A.T.P.W. given at installation, 834; installation in R.D.L., 892, 
911. 

If Dep. refuses to install because doubting legality of election, an installa- 
tion by any one else is void, 352 ; Lodge is entirely in charge of install- 
ing officer, 348 ; one under charges not to be installed, 3-^4; no address 
on entry of officers-elect, 349 ; N.G. puts no question during installation, 
nor interferes with installing officer, 348 ; member who is G. Officer at 
installation in his Lodge votes at election held by installing officer, 272 ; 
proxy installation not allowed, 355 ; if officer is installed without R. Deg. 
when it is required, he must take degree and be reinstalled or vacate 
office, 345 ; Treas. -elect appearing without previous approval of bond, 
installing officer can take the approval of Lodge then, and take any 
other vote incidental to his duty, 350. 

Public installations , accepted and adopted in 111., 356 ; Subs, authorized 
to use and advised to hold Jan. installation in public, 356 ; public in- 
stallation conducted by elective G. Officer, or Dep. of G.M., elective 
G. Officer taking precedence, 357 ; may be held in any suitable hall and 
on other than the regular evening, 192, 348, 358 ; proper mode of pro- 
ceeding, Lodge not closing, but taking a recess, etc., 359. 

See Installing Officer. 
INSTALLING OFFICER, in G.L., is G.M. or P.G.M., and no one else, 
107-8; in Sub. L., G.M. or his Dep,, 335 ; but N.G. or P.G. may install, 
335, even without special authority, 335, 339 ; may be qualified member of 
other jurisdiction, 337; but Dep. of one Lodge can install in other 
Lodge only on request of its Dep., 337; N.G. must yield chair to in- 
stalling officer, 126, 346, 348 ; installing officer may not refuse to install 
on account of objection to returns, if Lodge has accepted them, but 
must see that they are recorded, 343 ; reports to G. Sec, 360 ; may not 
install officer under charges, 144; may not be interfered with by N.G., 
but has charge of the Lodge, and may take any required vote, 350. 

Installing officer must see that officers have learned their charges, 271, 
344, officer elected in emergency to fill vacancy, 344, and that they are 
otherwise qualified, 344 ; he and his associate officers give P.W. at 
entering outer door, but not at inner, 833 ; is not entitled to pay for 
instalHng in his own town, 354 ; has no right to grant dispensations or 
do other official act than to install, unless he is G.M. or Dep., 353; 
public installation must be by elective G. Officer or Dep. of G.M., 357 ; 
if Dep. is installing officer, he is entitled to "honors" as G.M., 327; 
installing officer may not take charter of Lodge, or assume privilege of 
elective G. Officer and introduce visitors without card or P.W., 327; 



ILLINOIS ODD-FELLOWS' CODE. 381 

4®^ The figures refer to the sections ""©H 

INSTALLING OYY\C^'K—Co7itimied. 

among P.G's preference is given to rank And seniority, in installation, 
338. 
See Installation, Deputy of G.M. 

INSTITUTION (the opening of a Subordinate according to the prescribed 
form, 166). Done by G.M. or P.G. specially deputed, 178 ; persons 
named in warrant constitute the new Lodge, except absentees from insti- 
tution, who are not charter members, 174; expenses of instituting officer 
paid by Lodge opened, 178 ; duty of Special Dep. fulfilled when he has 
reported to G.M., 179 ; but he is regular Dep. in charge of Lodge until 
other is appointed, 333. 
See Charters, and Chap. VI. 

INSTRUCTION. G. Bodies may instruct their G. Reps, on matters of 
local interest, but not on general interests, 14; G. Rep. should instruct 
his G. Body in the Work on his return ; his instructions to be strictly 
observed, 137; instruction is one object of special Degree Sessions of 
G.L., 34. 

INSTRUCTORS.— See Grand Instructors. 

INSUBORDINATION. (The offense of a Lodge or an officer refusing to 
obey the laws or the legal orders of a superior). Lodge liable to sus- 
pension for it, 123, 126, 197. 
See Contempt. 

INSULT. Lodge may protect itself, on actual occurrence or demonstration 
of insult, 530, 531, 737. 

INSURE. Subs, advised to insure against fire, 1109 ; G.L. discourages 
appeals for aid in case of fire, regarding insurance as duty, 209 ; G. Sec. 
ordered to insure for G.L. 111., 132. Life Insurance, 55, 1123. 

INTEMPERANCE.— See Intoxication. 

INTEREST, affects right to vote, 1002-3-4. 

INTOXICATING DRINKS. Abuse, not use, forbidden, 627 (8); traffic 
in, not to be forbidden by by-law, 958 (10), 629 ; treated with reference to 
effect on character of Lodge and Order, 629 ; excluded from Lodge and 
ante-room, etc., 210; use at festival of Lodge forbidden, 212-13-14. 
!^S^ History of the abolition of the use of liquor in Lodge rooms, see 
S.G.L. Journal for 1872, pp. 5568-9, obituary of P.G. Rep. Augustus 
Mathiot. 

INTOXICATION. — See Intoxicating Drinks. Occasional offenses of 
intoxication to be treated with reprimand and suspension, to reclaim 
before expulsion is necessarj^ ; regular course of discipline, 752 ; treat- 
ment of intoxicated brother who comes to Ledge room, 737. 

INTRODUCTION, of visiting Subordinate, done by its first two officers, 
as if by G. Officer, 533-4, but not attended with the honors, 535. 
of visiting brother, in S.G.L., by G. Rep., 25. In Sub. L., elective 
G. Officers may introduce visitor, including holder of current W.C., 
without P.W. or examination, 149, 150, 535 ; but may not introduce 
holder of expired W.C., nor without satisfactory evidence of good stand- 
ing, 150, 512, nor prior to opening of Lodge, 526, nor into the branch 
of the Order in which he is not G. Officer, 149 ; Dep. has not this 
privilege, 327; committee, after examining visitor by card, introduce him, 
520 ; and do so after each examination if it is repeated, 525 ; form of 
introduction suggested, p. 294. 



382 ILLINOIS ODD-FELLOWS' CODE. 

4^"" TJie figures I'efer to the sections °^5|ll 

INTRODUCTION— C^;z/mz^^rt'. 

of candidate . Introduction at initiation completes the ceremony, 423 ; on 
admission by card, introduction and signing constitution is part of 
admission, 418 ; form for this proposed, p. 293. 

INVESTIGATING COMMITTEE, in trial, same as Pros. Com.: regu- 
larly, the committee on a proposition. See these subjects in the Prac- 
tical Codes, pp. 252, 269, 275 ; or see Committee (II). 

INVESTMENT.— See Funds, and Sec. 455. 

INVITATION to G.L., to hold session at any place, must be accompanied 
by evidence of accommodation sufficient, 88 ; to festival or parade, G.L. 
will not accept, 216. 

I.O.O.F., regular abbreviation of title, and other forms disallowed, 1084. 

JEWELS, for officers Subs, and P.G., 920, 921 ; for P.G.M. and G.L. officers, 
922; for G. Rep., P.G. Reps., officers and past officers S.G.L., 923; 
all members when visiti7ignvd.y wear regalia and jewels of highest degree 
taken, 926 ; all officers in station and during business must wear their 
jewels, 928 ; worn in R.D.L. by ladies in office, 935 ; worn at funerals, 
936 ; G.M. must wear when visiting officially, 125 ; a jewel wrought in 
regalia is not sufficient, 928 ; jewels are part of effects, 195 ; jewels of 
R.D.L. adopted, 1882, see in Addenda, after this Index. 

JOURNALS, of S.G.L., source of law, 8 ; published annually, containing all 

proceedings except of secret session, 26; copies furnished to G. Bodies 

and Subs., 68 ; one copy to each Sub., 1041 ; bound Journals sold as 

Supplies, 1044. 

4^^ See table showing correspondence of paging of S. G.L. Journal with 

years of its sessions. Appendix, p. 333. 
of G.L. III. Furnish local laws, 164; indexed annually by G. Sec, 132 ; 
matters in the Journals are legally made known and notified to the 
Lodges by its distribution, 1040 ; rule of distribution, 1041 ; years to each 
volume, pp. 319, 320; price as sold, etc., 1041, and Jour, cover. 
4®^ See table showing correspondence of paging of 111. Journals with 
years of sessions, Appendix, p. 332. 

JUDICIARY, a committee of G.L. 111., and its duties, 157. 

JUNIOR P.G. Who is Jun. P.G., 227, 319; may not be elected to any 
office, but may be chosen Rep., 227 ; not finable for absence, and why, 
227 ; his duty, 306, 320 ; not disqualified by short service not of his own 
causing, 321 ; l>odge may not require him to wear a peculiar regalia, or 
other than regular P.G.'s regalia, 932 ; when N.G. is reelected, last 
Jun. P.G. continues, 228; Jun. P.G. is on Vis. Com., 603. 

JURISDICTION. (I. Authority to decide in a controversy or trial. II. The 
territory over which the authority of a G. Body extends. This Index 
notices only thefor77ier meaning. For the other, see Residence.) 
A Lodge has no jurisdiction over member of another, 611 ; brother can be 
punished only by his own and the G.L., 611 ; G.L. cannot appoint a com- 
mittee to try a brother, 610 ; Lodge may not try for deeds done before 
membership. 614; brother can be tried for fraud in obtaining member- 
ship, 615. 
Lodge has jurisdiction over holder of its W.C., before expiry of it, not 
after, 616, 640 ; Lodge may try for offenses committed after joining the 
Order before joining that Lodge, 614 ; jurisdiction for offense continues 
over suspended or dropped member, 617; political controversies gener- 



ILLINOIS ODD-FELLOWS' CODE. 383 

4®^ The figures refer tj the sections ""©IL 

JURISDICTION — C^;/;'/«z/^^. 

ally are out of 'ur!sdiction, 627 (10) ; indebtedness between brothers not 
proper matter for Lodges to deal with, 628 ; member liable to trial for 
any scandalizing occupation, 629 ; G. Bodies and S.G.L. have appellate 
jurisdiction, 788, 804-5-6. 
See Offenses, Official Misconduct, and Venue. 

KINDRED may hold office at same time in a Lodge, 243. 

LADIES' DEGREE,— See Degree, Rebekah. 

LAN GL' AGE. — See Foreign Language. 

Resolution to allow work in no language but English, rejected in 1841 

decisively, S.G.L. Jour. p. 424, 
Charge of bad language, how made, 669 ; superfluous language in appli- 
cation for card, 495. 

LAWS OF THE ORDER, Source of supreme and general laws is S.G.L., 
and where found, i, 7, 8; G.L. Const, may be amended to conform, 
even if inadvertently approved, 5 ; local laws come from G. Bodies, 2 ; 
subjects of local legislation, 69 ; by-laws from Subs., 182,945 ; their own 
laws to be observed b}- G. Bodies, 48 ; questions on law come to S.G.L. 
only from G. Bodies, 9 ; to G.L. 111. only from Subs., 94; G. Sire en- 
forces laws of S.G.L., and ma}^ not suspend, 22 ; G.M. enforces laws of 
G.L., and his constructions are binding, except in one class of cases, 
115, 116, 120. 

LAW, parliamentary. (The general or local parliamentary laws are used 
throughout the Order, subject to the special rules of any organization.) 
G.L. 111. governed by Rules of Order and parliamentary law, 95 : Rules 
of Order m full, 95 to 102 ; Robert's Rides of Order is authority for 
parliamentary^ law in the Order, 102, 963. 

LEAVING LODGE, brother not to be prohibited, 980. 

LECTURES, I (portions of the things said at initiation and the conferring 
of degrees), see Work of the Order. 
II (Addresses on Odd-Fellowship), to be delivered only by authority of 
G. or Sub. L's, 1117 : this law interpreted, 1118-19, 1120. 

LEGAL REPRESENTATIVES, 599. 

LEGISLATION, committee on, 156. 

LIBRARIES. Establishment advised, 1091 ; appropriations for, are legal 
use of funds, 456 (9) ; but G.L. may not order tax for, 54. 
Lodge libraries to be reported to G. Sec, 1092. 

LIFE INSURANCE, not to be made a feature of the Order by com- 
pulsory law, 55 ; prohibitions upon life-insurance societies within the 
Order, 1123. 
See Endowment. 

LIMB, loss of. — See Deformity. 

LIQUORS, LIQUOR TRAFFIC— See Intoxicating Drinks. 

LOAN. Lodge may not loan money to member to pay dues, 444 ; may 
loan funds on good security, 475 ; debt of mone^^ loaned on security not 
reason for refusing W.C., 485. 
See Funds. 

LOCAL LEGISLATION (means generally the legislation of G. Bodies). 
Matters referred by the S.G.L. to local legislation, 69. 



384 ILLINOIS ODD-FELLOWS' CODE. 

M^^ The figures refer to the sections ""©ll 

LOCATION of Lodge, designated in its charter, changed by G.L. only, 190. 
See Lodge Room. 

LODGE. — See Grand Lodge, Grand Body, Subordinate Lodge. 
[Lodge means a Sub. L., etc., 1085.) 

LODGE DEPUTY G.M.— See Deputies of the G.M. 

LODGE ROOM. Unless charter designates a particular room, Lodge may 
occupy any suitable room, 190 ; but not in a tavern or hotel, 189 ; spirit- 
uous, vinous and malt liquors forbidden in Lodge room and connected 
rooms, 210 ; ante-room is part of Lodge room, 972 ; political banner not 
to be hoisted on Lodge room, 217 ; letting of Lodge room for exhibitions 
inexpedient, but may be let for religious meetings, 1103 ; Lodge room 
may not be used for other degrees or work than the authorized, 864 ; 
may be changed without dispensation, 971 ; brother may not enter or 
stay in without regalia, 931 ; the Rituals not to be taken from the Lodge 
room, 276; nor are the records to be taken out unnecessarily, 998; 
Lodge not to meet elsewhere, 192, except for public installation, 358 ; 
tax for furnishing Lodge room not to be laid, if there are funds, 464, 
which may be used, 456(3); O.G. not to admit members to ante-room 
irregularly, 308. 

LOT. Election not decided by lot, 229. 

LOTTERY, not allowed in name of the Order, or for its benefit, 206. 

LUNATIC, benefits not to be refused to, and how given, 565 (3). 

MAGAZINE. — See Covenant, and Periodicals. 

MAJORITY.— See Vote. 

MAKING, defined, ini. 

MALICIOUS charges, how treated, 641, 643. 

MANCHESTER UNITY. (An English Order of Odd-Fellows, the origi- 
nal source of the American I.O.O.F., from which it separated fully in 
1843, because of changes in the work made by the parent society. — See 
these pages in Jour. S.G.L.: 42 (note), 43 (note), 56,64, 76, 78, 80, 89,93, 
97, 99, 114, 164, 194, 255, 265, 266, 298, 326, 336, 352, 355, 356, 366, 
374-379. 396, 400-402, 429-437. 447-463, 468, 473, 499-500, 503, 522-3, 
547-8, 576-7, 583-4, 621-23, 640, 668-9, 690, 1070, 1074, 3513, 3592, 
8078. The resolution of severance, p. 577, adopted, 584.) 
Members of M.U. may be received by initiation, 371 ; note on former 
legislation, 371 ; cards of M.U. not recognized, 382 ; its degrees not the 
degrees of the I.O.O.F,, of course. There can be no recognition by 
intervisitation, as the Orders are distinct; see Addenda, at close of this 
Index, Sec. 371 ; hence one of the I.O.O.F. cannot, as such, visit a 
Lodge of the M.U.O.F. 

MARSHAL. In Sub. appointed to take charge of procession. 

MAY, in law, not always the same as must, 731. 

MEETING, (I) o/S.G.L., o/G. Body, and of G.L. Ill.— 'S>ee these under 
Sessions. 
(II) of Subordinate , may not be called by G M., 126, or his Dep., or by 
any but N.G., or by the V.G. acting as N.G., 273, 279 ; in all meetings, 
N.G. presides, with exceptions, 273-4-5 ; installation at regular meet- 
ing, or special, 340-1 ; special meetings should be called for degrees, or 
initiation, 862 ; of R.D.L's, 888, 914; Sunday meetings forbidden, 969 ; 



ILLINOIS ODD-FELLOWS' CODE. . 385 

4@= The figures refer to the sections '='©11 

WY.Y.Tl^i^ — Continued. 

Lodge meets weekly, except by permission of G.L., 966-7 ; may be 
allowed monthly or semi-monthly, 966. 

Meeting must be always in Lodge room, except for public installation, 192, 
358 ; twenty-six meetings make term, 321 ; failure of meetings for six 
months forfeits charter, 193, 197 ; at called meeting, all business is in 
" open Lodge," 982; place of meeting changeable in the same town, 
971 ; time changeable without waiting consent of G.L., 959, 971 ; inter- 
rupted meeting, 974; meeting not summoned by bell or public alarm, 
973 ; meetings may be opened with prayer, 1098 ; times and places of 
Lodge meetings should be advertised, 1090. 

Quorum necessary, including one qualified to preside, 978 ; otherwise 
business is illegal or void, 979 ; unofficial members may not be com- 
pelled to attend, 549, 627, 746; nor officers punished for leaving if there 
is no neglect of duty, 627 (i) ; how to proceed if absence of officers pre- 
vents meeting, 981 ; on legality of meeting with P.G. and Third-Degree 
member, in the chairs, 983 ; meetings under control of N.G., 985 ; may 
be in da^^time, 970, but not earlier than legal time, or time set in call of 
special meeting, 977; adjourned meeting illegal, 977; meeting begins 
when X.G. takes station and uses gavel, 984; no festival to be held in 
connection with meeting, 211. 

See Proceedings, Order of Business, Quorum, Adjournment. 

MEMBERSHIP, (I) in S.G.L. and G.L., see those titles. 

(II) in Sub. L's, see Practical Code of Membership^ pp. 249-258. Few 
other references are needed. 

Acquired primarily by initiation, and lost in G.L. when standing in 
Sub. L. is lost, 361 ; membership consummated is valid despite all 
informalities, 415, 419 ; but initiation by suspended or expelled Lodge is 
void and cannot be made valid, 415 ; person who has had membership 
in a spurious or illegal Lodge not to be admitted, except by consent of 
G.L., 625. 

S.G.L. having fixed qualifications for membership, no other body may add 
to or alter them, 366, 958 (i). 

Tables showing membership in Illinois in successive years, Appendix, 
p. 318 ; and valuable table of statistics of the Order for thirty years at 
end of pamphlet Jour. S.G.L. for i860, not found in Revised Journal as 
bound. 

(III) in R.D.L , Sees. 883 ; 886-87-88 ; 898 ; 906. 

(IV) i?t the Order, Sec. 361. 

MILEAGE AND PER DIEM. S.G.L. allows to its members, 10 ; but in 
case of contested seat, M. and P.D. given only to successful contestant, 
15 ; if Const. G.L. provides for paying expenses of G. Officers and Reps., 
it may not pay P.G's, 51 ; in 111. G. Officers and Reps, receive M. and P.D.' 
eight cents and $3, 163 ; not to Reps, who do not attend first two days 
of session, except on good excuse, 81 ; members of Standing Commit- 
tees not paid unless Reps., 132; members of committees meeting in 
advance of G.L. have extra pay, 165 ; one without legal certificate of 
election is not entitled to M. and P.D., 80. 
Com. in G.L. on INI. and P.D. reports amounts due to Reps, and G. Officers, 
163. 

MILITARY paraphernalia not allowed in procession, as swords, gauntlets, 
etc., 940. — See Army, Movable. 
26 



386 * ILLINOIS ODD-FELLOWS' CODE. 

4®^ The figures refer to the sections ^^IL 

MINIMUM RATES of dues and fees prescribed, 431 ; minimum balance 
in treasury to be estimated in cash, 467. 

MINISTERS, not to be admitted without usual fee, 441 ; in jurisdictions 
allowing such admission, all who preach from Old or New Testament 
are counted ministers of the Gospel by law, 439. 

MINUTES.— See Records. 

MISCONDUCT. — See Offense, Official Misconduct, Decorum, 
Disorder, Immorality. 

MISTAKE.— See Error. 

MODEL CODE, what it is, and its history. Appendix, p. 324. 

MONEY, sent to G. Sec. in drafts, etc., as far as possible, 220; uncurrent. 
funds returnable or to be discounted, 220 ; G. Sec. not authorized to 
credit Lodges with lost money, as formerly, 220 ; Treas. keeps money of 
Lodge, 301, 305, 1021 ; money at interest or in hands of Per. Sec not 
counted in ascertaining a minimum in treasury, 467 ; money paid for 
reinstatement must be returned, if reinstatement is denied, 784 ; Lodge 
must send returns without money rather than delay them, 1039 (^)- 
See Funds, Loan. 

MONGOLIANS {i.e. Chinese) not eligible to membership, 367, 543. 

MORAL CHARACTER, qualification for membership, 368, 372; not 
defined by law ; left to judgment of Lodge, 368 ; morality of occupations 
not considered by our law, 368. 

MOTTOES not to be used for private purposes, 620 (8) ; 941. 

MOURNING badge, 939. 

MOVABLE Lodges not allowed (as in army), 190. 

M.U. stands for Manchester Unity, which see. 

MUSIC, at celebration, 456 (12) ; at funeral, 456 (10) ; 458 (6) ; 465. 

MUTILATION.— See Deformity and Right Hand. 

NAME, of Order, is '' Independent Order of Odd-Fellows," not to be 
translated or changed, 1084 ; not to be used for private gain or in busi- 
ness, 620 (8), 931 ; not used in festival without permission, 212. 
of Lodge, may be used for new Lodge when original has been defunct 
twenty years, 61, 1055 ; otherwise, kept to await revival, 1056 ; may not 
be taken from living person, 172 ; choice in consolidation, 200. 
of G.L. III., given, 70; Appendix, p. 308. 

of person, not used as name of Lodge, 172; may not be omitted or 
erased from charter, 177; names given in returns to G.L., 1039 (4) ,; how 
person is relieved who entered the Order under false name, 1107 : name 
not to be brought into Lodge except with proposition, 397 ; name of 
holder of card to be written in margin, 483 ; names of expelled, sus- 
pended for offense, or rejected, to be entered in Black Book, 725, but not 
published, 750, 751 ; not erased from constitution, 821 ; name as member 
of Order or officer not to be used in business, 941 ; name precedes title 
in Jour. S.G.L., 13. 
of informant , concealed, 639, 643 ; given up in certain case, 641, 643. 
Name of jurisdiction to go upon flag, 942. 
See Title. 



ILLINOIS ODD-FELLOWS' CODE. 387 

4^ The figures refer to the sectioits *=®iL 

NEGLECT of officers does not cut off member from benefits, 565 (7, 13) ; 
neglect of Trustees finable, 1024 ; officers finable for neglect of duty, 738 ; 
neglect to learn charge, 271. 
See Official Misconduct. 

NEGROES, and persons of negro blood, not eligible as members, 367, 543. 

NEWSPAPER.— See Periodical Press. 

NOBLE GRAND. The title of the presiding officer of a Lodge, elective, 
222 ; general statement of duties and powers, 273 ; must preside when 
present, with exceptions, 283 ; presence of N.G. or qualified j(>ro-te7n, 
N.G. necessary to legal meeting, 978 ; no one acts as N.G. pro tern, but 
V.G. or P.G., 281-2-3, 306 ; appoints certain officers, 239, 256 ; and all 
committees not otherwise ordered, 273 ; should not be on investigating 
committee on proposition, 401 ; appointments are made at his own dis- 
cretion, and not under order of Lodge, 229, 256; may be of com- 
mittee to examine visitor, 520; and is one of Vis. Com., 603 ; but not one 
of Pros. Com., 651. 
Lodge is under his control, and may be recalled from Com. Whole, 985 ; 
Dep. or G.M, may not take his chair or place from him except to install, 
126; he is in official duty on taking station at opening, and should use 
gavel, 984 ; votes on ballots, but gives generally only casting vote, 
273, 275, 1006; enforces laws and superintends officers, etc., 273 ; keeps 
charter and Rituals, 273, 276, but only in Lodge room, 276; holds till 
successor is installed, 257 ; is only one who ma^'- draw on the Treas., but 
no other control of funds, 278 ; may not hold office of Treas., 278 ; may 
appoint 2i pro-te77i. member of Fin. Com., 1026. 
In initiation, may deliver P.G's charge, 281 ; calls special meetings if needed, 
279 ; words may not be dictated to N.G. by Lodge, 280 ; gives pledge 
for Lodge as to festival, 212 ; may not compel brother to re-main in 
Lodge room, 980 ; appeals from him go to the Lodge, 944, 962 ; all 
questions of order decided by him, subject to appeal, 942, and he inter- 
prets constitution, 944 ; calls special meetings to confer degrees, or to 
initiate, 862 ; confers degrees, 858. 
Examines applicant for admission by card, 384; examines ballots, 405-6; 
may order ballot retaken before announcing result, if error is feared, but 
may not order new ballot, 409 ; does not determine time of initiation, 
421 ; he alone gives P.W., 830; gives A.T.P.W. again if forgotten, 839 ; 
receives at instahation the A.T.P.W., 834; gives A.T.P.W. and 
term P.W, on written order, 836-7, 840 ; orders entry of assessment under 
by-laws, 467 ; signs returns, 1037. 
N.G. may pass business by consent instead of vote, 502; must not refuse 
to put proper question, 274; must sign order for benefits passed, unless 
Dep. stays payment, 575 ; notice of sickness may go to him, 573 ; signs 
cards, 483 ; issues dismissal certificates, 501 ; announces dropping, 
757-8, 760, 766 ; his action on complaint, 639 : keeps name of informant 
secret, but gives it up if charge is malicious, 641, 643 ; appoints commit- 
tee to take evidence, 656 ; takes (or causes to be taken) depositions, 
675 ; puts penalties to vote, first explaining mode of voting, 692, 700, 702 ; 
or reads law and declares fixed penalty, 710; Code of Trials, ix, 17, 
p. 279. 
N.G. may appoint attorney for Lodge in case of removed trial, 711 ; may 
not inflict fine or penalty except by-law disabilities for absence, etc., 
which he enforces, 738 ; offers excuse for absence to the Lodge, V.G. 
presiding on question, 286; charges against N.G. go to V.G., 647-8; 



388 ILLINOIS ODD-FELLOWS' CODE. 

Ji®^ The figures refer to the sections ""^IL 

NOBLE GRAND —Continued. 

charged with official misconduct for neglect of duty, and if guilty remov- 
able from office, 724 ; may vacate the office of an officer who does not 
learn charges, 271. 

Eligibility to office of N.G., 249, 251-2-3 : Third-Degree member may 
become N G. by dispensation, when, 250, 251 ; earns by service the P.O. 
Deg., 310, 312 ; need not wait a term for it, 314 ; gets the P.O. Degs. of 
V.G. and Sec. if first N.G. of new or revived Lodge or Third-Degree 
member eligible by dispensation, 315 ; every Past N.G. gets P.O. Deg. 
of Sec. without service, 311 ; but a N.G. promoted from V.G.'s chair 
without full term does not get V.G.'s degree, 316. 

N.G. may not report himself P.G. in returns for his term, unless so before, 
319, 1034 ; may be member of G.L. at once on close of term of service, 
32 ; may be Rep. to G.L. chosen before completion of term, only when 
he is already P.G., 76, 245, 319 ; installs successor, and when, 335, 339 ; 
must yield chair to installing officer, 346; has no right to put a question 
while installing officer has chair, 348 ; if N.G. is illegally installed, must 
be installed anew, on getting requisite degree or qualification, 345 ; N.G. 
may conduct and introduce his Lodge when visiting in a body, 533-4 ; 
is not entitled by his office to S.A.P.W. of R.D.L., 895. 

N.G. elect vacates office by failing to come to installation, or by absence, 
257, 262 ; if so absent and not displaced, V.G. does not make the 
appointments, 240, and sitting N.G. holds on, 257; N.G. elect must 
learn charges, 271. 

N.G. o/R.D.L., duties, 908. 

See Presiding Officer ; Officers, and Office, and titles relating to 
work and duties. 
NOMINATION, in G.L. Officers are nominated before vote : no vote 
counted unless for nominee, 105. 

in Sub. L. — See Code ofi Elections, p. 272, Parts B and C. 

in R.D.L., when made, 911. 
NON-AFFILIATED, 361, note ; 364. 
NON-ATTENDANCE.— See Absence. 

NON-BENEFICIAL. [One who cannot under any circumstances receive 
benefits.] Term defined, 548, note. 

The initiation of persons as non-beneficial is illegal, and such agreement is 
void, 362, 364; but certain brothers over fifty may be admitted as non-bene- 
ficial, 364 ; law of G.L. 111. on this, 425 ; specially, law of Lodges for such 
admissions, 426; how dropped may become non-beneficial, 779 ; how to 
change from non-beneficial to beneficial, 427 ; fee not less than ^5, 433 ; 
dues not over five cents a week, 430 ; has all rights and privileges except 
right to benefits, 428 ; no funeral benefit, 586, 596 ; entitled to watchers 
and care of Vis. Com., 607 ; widow's rights, 596. 
NON-PAYMENT OF DUES, (abbreviated N.P.D.) History of N.P.D. 
and legislation upon it. Appendix, p. 321. General laws, Sec. 756. 

See Practical Code of Me^nbership , p. 258 ; see Arrears, Dropped, 
Dropping, Benefits, Password, Reinstatement and Defunct, — 
also the following. 

Effect of arrears for thirteen weeks, 764-5 ; benefit not cut off till close of 
fourteenth week, 560 ; when lost by N.P.D., cannot be regained by pay- 
ment during sickness, 561; dues may not be increased as penalty for 
N.P D., 771. 



ILLINOIS ODD-FELLOWS' CODE, 389 

4f^ The figures refer to the sections ""©IL 

NOTES. Lodges may not take notes for dues or fees : a brother who has 
given such note is not in good standing, 444 ; Lodge may not give up a 
brother's note given for funds loaned, 458 (5). 

NOTICE, of sickness, 564, 571-3 ; of arrears, 297 ; 763 ; 767-8 ; of rejec- 
tion, etc., 775 ; of appeal, 791. 

NUMBER of Lodge, may be assigned to another, after twenty years' 
defunction, 61, 1055-56, 

NURSES, AND NURSING.— See Watching. 

OATH. (Not used in I.O.O.F. ; discontinued on representations from 
Massachusetts, and the pledge of honor, older in use in the Order, sub- 
stituted for it in that state, and afterward generally. — Jour, S.G.L., 
16 J, 168-9,) Test oath or obligation not to be used in examining visitor, 
529- 

OBLIGATION (O.B,N.) O.B.N, of office administered only by those who 
have taken them, 108, 336 ; no one can act as N.G. or V.G. who has 
not taken the official O.B.N., 282 ; Supporter (unless he is P,V.G.) can- 
not administer the candidate's O.B.N., 289 ; voiding initiation would 
void the O.B.N, of initiate, 415 ; test oath or O.B.N, not allowed in 
examining visitor, 529 ; only those who have taken the regular O.B.N, 
can be charter members, 174. 

OCCUPATION. One unable to attend to occupation from ill health is sick, 
601 ; one able to attend to it is J>riiJia-facie not sick, in legal sense, but 
may be proved so, 602 ; applicant for membeiship should have occupa- 
tion or means of support, 372 ; emblems of the Order not to be used to 
aid one's business, 620 ; business of liquor-selling, 629 ; occupations not 
to be forbidden by name, generally, in by-laws, 958 (iw), 629 ; change of 
occupation does not affcct right to benefits, 565 (4). 

ODES. Part oi Supplies, 1042, 1044; bear imprint of S.G.L., 1042; nor 
to be printed by any other body or person, except G.L's Australia and 
New Zealand, 1042 ; form integral part of opening and closing ceremo- 
nies, 1112. 

OFFENSE. Violation of the laws of the Order, or of its principles, or con- 
duct derogatory to its character; 83, 201, 609, 629. 

(I) by Lodges. Offense of Lodge authorizes G.M. to take charter, 123, 
193 ; offense of officer sustained by Lodge is insubordination, 126 ; Lodge 
may, at its own risk, violate law of G.L. to obey S.G.L. law, 183 ; vio- 
lation of law about festivals requires G.M. to suspend Lodge, 213 ; hoist- 
ing political banner wrong, 217 ; not allowed to have spirituous, vinous 
or malt liquors in Lodge and ante-room, 210; failure to punish immoral 
conduct of member is offense of Lodge, 201 ; raffles, lotteries, gift-enter- 
prises, etc, forbidden, 206; offense of Lodge to be tried, 197, 

(II) by officers and members. Immoral conduct must be punished by 
Lodge, 201, 609 ; loss of office not proper penalty for immoral conduct, 
259 : offense to be treated alike in officers and members, 265 ; offense of 
holder of W,C. to be punished by the Lodge he left, 616, 640; reputed 
offense not reason for excluding visitor, but authorizes report to his 
Lodge, 530, 612 ; misconduct before joining Order not offense to be dealt 
with, 614 ; fraud in joining may be punished, 615 ; offense after joining 
the Order but before joining a Lodge may be tried by it, 614; political 
controversies not generally affording offenses for Order to deal with, yet 
may do so, 627 (10). 



390 ILLINOIS ODD-FELLOWS' CODE. 

4®^ The figures refer to the sections ""^^ 
OFFENSE— ContiJiued. 

Offense is ground of complaint, 639 ; charges must show offense plainly, 
and charge a real offense, 668, 670 ; confessed offense authorizes penalty 
without trial, 704-5-6 ; conviction must be on the offense charged, 709 ; 
member not tried twice for same offense, 717; offense not punished by 
depriving of benefits, 565 (16), 729 ; sundry matters not to be treated as 
offenses, 627 ; non-fraudulent indebtedness to be let alone, 628 ; offense of 
N.G., 648 ; of a Patriarchal member, 613. 

Enumeration of sundry acts considered to be offenses, 620; of certain acts 
not to be treated as offenses, 627, 628, 629. 

See Official Misconduct, Trials, Charges, Penalty, Jurisdiction, 
Decorum, Immorality, Voting. 
OFFICE. Holding office neither confers on a member any right or privilege 
nor takes any from him except as provided by law ; hence, G. Officer 
votes in his Sub. L., 109 ; at an installation election as at other times, 
272 ; hence, G. Officers do not vote esc officio, in G. Body, 109 ; hence, 
N.G. votes on election of members, officers, etc., 272-3 ; hence, officer is 
not released from obedience to law, 265 ; hence, taking V.C. does not 
deprive of office or of power to hold office, 510 ; office vacated by suspen- 
sion, 113, 260, 749 ; members may not be compelled to accept, 229, 746 ; 
offices may be held at same time by kindred, 243 ; G.M, should not hold 
office in Lodge or D.L., 128. 

Resignation of office carries loss of honors, no, 264, 310 ; office may not be 
taken on conditions nor filled by proxy, 267 ; suspension from office is not 
an allowed penalty, 729 ; removal from office not penalty for immoral 
conduct, but for official misconduct, 259, 626 ; suspension from office dur- 
ing trial not legal, except partly, iii, 112, 649, 735 ; there is no such 
office as Past Grand, nor is the position of Rep. to G.L. an office, 227; 
Lodge may not create new office, 224 ; member filling office wears its 
regalia, 929. 

See Officer, Grand Officers, Official Misconduct. 

J^^JVote. There is some contradiction in our laws in the use of the 
words ofice and officer. Any function which a member fulfills by elec- 
tion or regular appointment is, in one sense of the word, an ofice ; so 
that a Representative, a Deputy and the Jun. P.G. really fill offices, 
and each is to that extent an officer, and is so called in the laws. Hence 
they may be guilty of official misconduct. But the word officer in its 
special sense applies only to those formally declared such in the constitu- 
tions and Rituals ; and this excludes the Representative, the Deputy 
and the Jun. P.G. 
OFFICER, (I) gefierally. Forbidden to use name as officer in private 
enterprise, 941 ; forbidden to sign any diploma, certificate or card not 
issued by S G.L. (except W.C's to members of Defuncts), 1043 ; is not 
deprived of office or privileges during trial, 111-12, 649, 735 ; is eligible 
generally if qualified at induction into office, 245. 

See Presiding Officer. 

(II) of G. Bodies. — See Grand Officers. 

(III) of Subordinate Lodges. What they are, 222 ; prescribed by law : 
Lodge may not create other, 224, 225 ; P.G. or Rep. to G.L. not officer, 
227; pro-tem. officers appointed by presiding officer, 256 ; officers have 
powers and duties as assigned by Ritual, constitutions and laws, 
265, 307; may not fill station by proxy, nor accept place conditionally, 
267 : no officer except Secretaries exempt from dues, but others may be 
paid, 269 ; paid officer resigning does not forfeit compensation, 270. 



ILLINOIS ODD-FELLOWS' CODE. 391 

4®=" The figures refer to the sections '='^. 

OYYICY.K — Continued. 

Officers must learn Work before installation, or in one month, 271 : some 
officers appointed by N.G., some by V.G., 239, 240: all officers super- 
vised by N.G., 273 ; officers may study Rituals in Lodge room only, 
276-7; V.C. given to officers as to other members, 510; officers permit- 
ting or aiding use of spurious degrees or the like, violate law, 864. 

Officer may not be removed summarily by G.M., 126; G.L. may not 
appoint, 226 ; no restriction on reelection, 242 ; officers not elected by 
Lodge under susp<msion, 241 ; officers at time of suspension resume 
places at restoration, ic6i ; officer reelected must be reinstalled, 242 ; 
finable only under by-law, 738, 743 ; forfeits honors by resigning, 
no, 264, 310; is not suspended during trial, 649; is finable only under 
by-law, 738, 743 ; loses office by suspension, 113, 260, 749. 

4(^ See specially the following titles for such matters relating to officers as 
also relate to these subjects : 

Absence ; Cards ; Election ; Eligibility ; Defunct ; Deputy ; 
Terms; Office; Trustees; Returns; Degrees; Degrees, Past 
Official; Fines; Honors of Office; Installations; Jewels; 
Official Misconduct ; Past Officers ; Presiding Officer ; Re- 
galia ; Removal ; Trials ; Vacancy ; Work. 

See also, sundry officers by name, as N.G., V.G., Warden, O.G., LG., 
Sec, Per. Sec, Treas. 

(IV) officers, past, see Past Officers. 

(V) officers, presiding, s,&& Presiding Officer, 

(VI) officers of Degree Lodge, 868. 

(VII) officers of Rebekah-Degree Lodge, 888, 908, 910 ; their regalia, 935. 
OFFICIAL MISCONDUCT. Official misconduct of N.G. to be dealt 

with by G.M. through the Sub. L. and not directly, 126; Dep. of G.M. 
removable for, and how, 332 ; removal from office a proper penalty for 
official misconduct, 259 ; interference of N.G. with installing officer, 348 ; 
all officers liable for official misconduct ; penalty ; further trial and 
penalty, 626; mode of proceedings for official misconduct, 724; neglect 
of officers to commit work, 271 ; penalty for official misconduct may be 
removal from office, or fine, or both, but nothing else, 748 ; change of 
venue allowed in such trials, 713 ; for Sec. to withhold a granted card is 
official misconduct, 496. 
See Absence. 

O.I.O.F. Abbreviation of '' Order of Independent Odd-Fellows," a title 
used for the Order occasionally in its early days, but finally disowned, 
1084. 

'' OLD WORK." Rehearsal disallowed, 864. 

'' OPEN LODGE." (The condition of a Lodge duly opened, with quorum 
present, with legally-presiding officer, assembled on regular evening of 
meeting or in pursuance of a legal call.) Cards granted at properly- 
called special meeting are given in " open Lodge," 982 ; any other 
business, 982. 

ORATION. Expense of orator on celebration of Fourth of July payable 
by Lodge only when oration is on Odd-Fellowship, 1087; how addresses 
or lectures are authorized, 1117-18, 1120. 

ORDER, questions of, decided by presiding officer, subject to appeal to the 
Lodge only, 962 ; how treated in G.L. 111., 98,99. 
See Law, Parliamentary ; Rules of Order ; Robert. 



392 ILLINOIS ODD-FELLOWS' CODE. 

4®^ The figures refer to the sections ""©H 

ORDER OF BUSINESS, in G.L. 111., 95, 96 ; not prescribed in Ritual, 
only advised, 989. 

See Rules of Order. 
OREGON, query from, in S.G.L., 1071. 

ORPHANS, recognized as having claims on the Order, 481 ; interference 
by mother does not free Lodge from care, 597; asylum for orphans 
recommended, 1122, by G.L's ; may not tax Subs, to build, etc., 52. 

See Widows and Orphans. 
OUTSIDE CONDUCTOR. When he makes no address, 11 14. 
OUTSIDE GUARDIAN. Must have R. Deg. before installation, 248; 
must be member of the Lodge, 224; may become Steward, but N.G. 
not to be required to appoint Steward as O.G., 229, 2 = 6 ; may be paid for 
service, 269; must not admit members without signal, 308; if absent at 
opening, assumes duty on arriving, 308. 
PARLIAMENTARY LAW. See Law, Parliamentary. 
PASSWORDS, {\)generally. What P.W's are in use, 824 ; may be used, 
subject to instructions, in proving a brother, 825 ; may be given by G.M. 
and Deps. only in discharge of duty, and to whom, 829 ; in Lodge 
working in foreign language, P.W's are to be spoken as in English, and 
not translated, 823. 

{\Y) A.T.P.W. Primarily for traveling brothers outside of jurisdiction, 
but may be used in it, 834 ; given to receiver of card, 483, 519, 834 ; must 
be known by N.G. and V.G., 834 ; given only in line of duty; G. Sire 
may not authorize giving beyond law, 8^8 ; G. Reps, transmit A.T.P.W. 
(given by G. Sire, 824) to local authorities, 841 ; in case of no G. Rep., 
G. Sire transmits otherwise, 842 ; A.T.P.W. to be used with card is that 
ofyear of its date, 838; currency of A.T.P.W. begins Jan. ist, 824. 

Order for A.T.P.W. sent to absent brother, 835 ; order given in course, 
without vote, 837; N.G. receiving order for A.T.P.W. jnust confer it, 
836; applicant for admission by card must have A.T.P.W., and N.G. 
examines for it, 381, 384; without it he is only A O.F., 384; mode of 
giving in examination, 520 ; does not authorize admission if card is 
informal, 524 ; card without A.T.P.W. is not enough to admit a brother, 
527 ; committee examining not confined to A.T.P.W. and card, 527. 

Brother having card and A.T.P.W. or order may not be refused admit- 
tance for alleged immorality, 530 ; Lodge visiting in a body does not 
visit by card and A.T.P.W., 533 ; holder of dismissal certificate not to 
have A.T.P.W., 542, 774; G. Officers giving certificates (or cards) to 
members of defunct Subs, may give A.T.P.W. or order for it, 840 ; if 
A.T.P.W. is forgotten, it may be given again, 839. 

(Ill) Term P. W. Given by G.M., 115, 824 ; different in the several juris- 
dictions, in place of which a Q.P.W. may be used, or an annual P.W., 
824 ; not given to brother in arrears more than thirteen weeks, 764, 826 ; 
not used in R.D.L., 844; N.G. only may give or cause to be given, 
830; lack of it does not exclude from G.L., 30 ; to be given on order, 
837 ; given by G.M. and Deps. officially only, 829 ; Supporter in N.G's 
chair pro tein. may not authorize giving of term P.W., 831 ; how term 
P.W. is given in examination, 832. 

Jg^^-The Term P.W. was formerly called the S.A.P.W. or Semi-annual 
Password. 

Term P.W. to be given at outer door by G. Officers, real or titular, 833; 
may be used in place of E. P.W. ,845; used by member in visiting in 



ILLINOIS ODD-FELLOWS' CODE. 393 

4®^ The figures refer to the sections ""^JQl 

PASSWORDS — Continued. 

his own jurisdiction, but not out of it, 519 ; not to be refused to P.G. 
acting as Warden, 929 ; member not entitled to it to be admitted for 
trial, 716; refusal of term P.W. for arrears, 764, 826 ; acquiring term 
P.W. improperly and thus getting relief is a double fraud, 623 ; if in be- 
ginning of term member of Lodge not having term P.W. visits Lodge 
where it has been put in use, he cannot be admitted, 824. 

(IV) A. P.W. Degree of Rebekah. Annual, from G. Sire, to all of that 
degree, 824 ; used by ladies at outer door, and otherwise, 843 ; how 
used, 882, 884, 893 ; to be withheld from divorced woman in certain case, 
899. 

(V) E.P.W. Called the V.G.'s, 824 ; use of, 845. 

(VI) Degree P. W~' s. Never changed, 824 ; used for proving, 825. 

(VII) Reb. Degree Permanent. Gives right to seat ui Sub. Lodge open 
in R. Deg., 882 ; how given, 884. 

(VIII) Reb. S.A.P. W. How made, 824, 894; how used, 824, 894; none 
but members of R.D.L. entitled to it, 895. 

PAST GRAND, PAST GRAND MASTER, PAST GRAND REPRE- 
SENTATIVE, PAST GRAND SIRE, etc., see next title. Past 
Officers. 
PAST OFFICERS, (I) generally. {The term "Past Officer " very often 
means only "Past Grand" ; so in Sees. 34, 1C93.) Certificate to past 
officer is ow\y prima facie evidence of service, etc., 30; "honors" 
given to past officers visiting out of jurisdiction, how, 147 ; past officers 
receive P.O. Degs. on completion ot service, 314 ; have honors at close of 
term, 314 ; no honors to P. Degree Master, c68 ; regalia of past officers 
when visiting, 926; past officers in Lodge make up returns to G.L., 
1031 ; in procession only officers and past officers wear sashts, 1093 ; 
regalia of P.G. Officers, 918. 

See Honors of Office ; Degrees, Past-Official. 

(II) Past Grands. Not name of office or officer, but rank obtained by 
service as N.G., 227 ; last passed N.G. is Jun.P.G. [see that title], 227 ; 
certain privileges pertain to P.G's,3.9 ; G.L. may not abridge or dtstroy 
their rank or privileges, 29, 31, 309 ; they may disuse these, but not lose 
them, 309 ; are the members of G.L's, 29, 72, 3C9 ; their legislative 
power may be taken away, and position on committees, eic, 29 ; certifi- 
cate is prijjia facie evidence onl}^ 30 ; five P.G's necessary' for a G.L,, 
28 ; neglect of Lodge does not deprive of rights, 31 ; all P.G's may attend 
special Degree Sessions of G.L., 34 (4); but P.G. holding W.C. cannot 
be member of G.L., 82. 

Convention of P.G's as Reps, of Subs, illegal, 60; P.G's only can have 
G.L. Deg., 36 ; may be allowed to vote for G. Officers without presence 
in G.L., 42, 43 ; but may not vote by proxy, 43 : G.L. may not pay P.G's 
for attendance under law to pay officers and Reps., 51 ; how P.G. of 
other jurisdiction takes place in 111., 72 ; returns of Subs. 3.re prima facie 
evidence of standing, etc., ^2 ; P. N.G. eligible as Rep., 75, 76 ; any 
P.G. eligible to any ofifice'in G.L. 111., except G. Rep., 143 ; only a P.G. 
can be Rep., 75; only a P.G. can be Dep., 322, and commission, p. 289, 

P.G. being absent, N.G. gives his charge, 281 ; any P.G. may be N.G. 
pro tem., 283, 285, 289, 306; or called to chair by N.G. on special occa- 
sions, 283; P.G. may install, 335, 338; may receive P.O. Deg. and 
G.L. Deg. in other jurisdiction, 312 ; may be authorized to confer P.O. 
Degs., 314; P. N.G. need not wait a term for P.O. Deg., 314; brother 



394 ILLINOIS ODD-FELLOWS' CODE. 

M^ The figures refer to the sections '^^^ 

PAST OYYIZ^-R.^— Continued. 

not recognized as P.G. without proof, 317-18; P.G's acting as G. Offi- 
cers at installation give P.W., 833; P.G's as such not entitled to 
A.T.P.W., 834; any P.G. who is P.V.G. may have P. Sec. Deg. with- 
out service, 311 ; P.G. who is not Dep. not received with honors, 327. 
If card ranks holder as P.G. he must be so recognized, and have P.G. 
regalia, S22 ; if qualified otherwise, may visit S.G.L., 25; P.G. expelled 
from G L. still ranks as P.G. in Lodge, 866; regalia of P.G., 918-19; 
jewel, 920; P.G. acting as W. to be recognized, 929; discipline not to 
be referred to P.G's, 633 ; case of P.G. in chair and Third-Degree 
member as V.G., 983 ; N.G. does not report himself as P.G. unless so 
previously, 1034; regalia for P.G. who is P.G. P. or P.H.P., 919; P.G. 
proper member of committee to examine visitor, 520. 
See Junior Past Grand. 

(III) Past Grand Master. A P.G.M. may install G.M., 107-8; may 
announce title when visiting, but not entitled to honors of Order, unless 
on official business, 148; regalia and jewel, 922; P.G.M, has no special 
privilege in G.L., 109. 

(IV) Past Grand Representative . Wear same regalia as G. Reps., 923 ; 
jewel, 923. 

(V) Past Grand Sire. P.G. Sires are permanent members of S.G.L., 
with power of moving and debating, not of voting, 10. 

(VI) Past Noble Grand. — See Past Grand, Part II, above. 

(VII) Past Vice Grand. P.V.G. may act as V.G. and administer O.B.N. 
to candidates, 289 ; eligible as N.G. in any Lodge he joins, 252, 318 ; 
when P.O. Deg. of P.V.G. is given without service, 311, 316. 

PAST-OFFICIAL DEGREES.— See Degree, Part V. 

PATRIARCH, committing offense, best to try him in Lodge, 613; only 
Lodge regalia worn at funeral of Patriarch, 938 ; Uniformed l^atriarchs 
as escort, 1094. 

PECUNIARY AFFAIRS, Lodge must not interfere in, 628. 

PENALTY. Four penalties recognized, and their grade, 728 ; no others to 
be used, 729; but one penalty for an offense, one penalty only declared 
in a trial on all charges, 692, 755 ; expulsion is severest penalty, due for 
worst offenses only, 731 ; suspension a temporary penalty, never indefi- 
nite except for N.P.D., 732 ; G. Body may determine reasonable length, 
732, note ; not less than eight days, not more than a year, 732 ; effects of 
suspension, 732-3 ; fine not proper for immoral conduct, 728, 734 ; no 
penalty except on trial, 735-6; certain forms of penalty forbidden, 736. 
Exclusion of visitors or members not allowed, except in certain extreme 
cases, 530, 531, 737; no penalty inflicted by N.G. except fines for 
absence, etc., 738; deprivation of benefits not a proper penalty for 
offense, 565 (16) ; prescribed penalties for drunkenness, 752 ; if brother 
is reinstated after expulsion, penalties for further offense of intoxication, 
753 ; penalties fixed by G.L. are to be strictly followed by Lodge, 729 ; 
penalty for non-attendance of officer, when unadvisable, 739, 744; officer 
liable for neglect of duty, absence, etc., 742 ; punishment of official mis- 
conduct, 748 ; penalty not necessarily kept secret, 751. 
G.L. may punish G. Rep. by removal, 18; may punish members, 83; no 
penalty on Lodge without opportunity of offense (sundry exceptions), 
197 ; penalties on Lodge for failure to report to G. Sec. all repealed 
1031 ; no penalty to be inflicted except by one's own L. or G.L., 610; 
Sub. L's may not create other penalties than authorized by law, 964 



ILLINOIS ODD-FELLOWS' CODE. 395 

JKg== The figures refer to the sectio7ts ""^gL 

VY.'N ALTY — Continued . 

penalties to be in by-laws, not in rules of order, 844 : Lodges must jjun- 
ish offending members, 201, 609 ; must inflict some penalty on convic- 
tion, 697 ; mode of voting penalty in trial, 692, 697-702. 
Mode of voting in case sent back by G.INI., 727 ; who may vote on penalty, 
692, 695 ; fine may not be remitted, 741 ; when reprimand may be 
delayed, 730 ; expulsion, suspension or fine begm to operate as soon as 
adjudged, unless there is both appeal and sta^^ of proceedings, 730 ; how 
affected by appeal, 730, 789 ; severity of penalty is ground of appeal, 
801. 
If no penalty is voted, voting to be renewed as if no vote had been held, 
697 ; how penalt}^ of suspension is determined, 702 ; expulsion or other 
penalty on confession, 704-5-6; when definite penalty is declared by 
law, how pronounced, 7^8, 710 ; penalty voted only at regular meeting, 
or special meeting for trial, 703 ; increase of dues not allowed as penalty, 
771 ; certain specified acts for which no penalty may be inflicted, 627 ; 
penalty for neglecting the sick, 620 (6) ; refusal to submit to penalty is 
contempt, 660. 
See Trial, Offense, Suspension, Reprimand, Fine, Official Mis- 
conduct, and related titles. 

PER DIEM.— See Mileage and Per Diem. 

PERIODICALS. Improper use of name of Order, etc., by periodicals, 
how dealt with, 941 ; periodicals in name of the Order are issued on 
authority of editors and publishers only, without official authority, 1089 ; 
liberal encouragement to periodicals advised, and use of local press to 
advance interests of Order recommended, 1090. 

PERMANENT SECRETARY. An optional elective officer of Sub. L., 
222 ; proper time to choose is in December, 297 ; duties of Per. Sec. 
performed by Sec. if no Per. Sec. is chosen, 291 ; Per. Sec. elected an- 
nually, 297 ; duties of Per. Sec, 297; exempt from dues, 297; may be 
required to give bond, 300 ; Per. Sec. may correct error in his accounts, 
of whatever effect, 299 ; service as Per. Sec. gains no P.O. Deg., 310 ; 
but service six months as Per. Sec. makes eligible for V.G., 254; Per. 
Sec. may not be of Fin. Com., 1025, nor Trustee, 1018. 
Per. Sec. does not use seal, 293 ; is not required, unless by-laws so order, 
to notify watchers, 295 ; receives initiation fee and pays to Treas., 442 ; 
must receive dues tendered between meetings, 446; notifies of arrears, 
and how, 767 : a letter to Per. Sec. with money and asking W.C. is legal 
application therefor, 492 ; payment to Treas. acting as Per. Sec. 
J>ro tcjii. is a valid payment to Lodge, 446 ; Per. Sec. cannot demand 
W.C. till his accounts are settled, 510; Per. Sec reports to N.G. names 
of members to be dropped, 760 ; Per. Sec. makes out annual return to 
G.L., 1039. 
See Officer, Secretary. 

PETITION, (i. The request for admission to membership presumed to be 
sent to L. or E. by a candidate, through a member ; or a request for 
restoration to membership. 2. The request for warrant to open a new 
Sub. or G. Bod3^ 3. Other request.) 

1. Equivalent to Proposition, which see : see, also. Reinstatement. 

2. Petitions for new Lodge to be signed by five, ten or twenty members of 
Third Degree, 168 ; sent with cards and charter fee to G. Sec, 168, 173 ; 
referred in G.L. to Com. State of O., 155 ; may be granted or refused, 
166. — See Charter, etc. 



396 ILLINOIS ODD- FELLOWS' CODE. 

4®^ The figures refer to the sections ""©IL 

VYT^YTIO^ — Continued. 

3. Petitions for reinstatement of expelled must state facts, etc., 819 ; go to 
G.M. in recess, or to G.L., 820. 

PHYSICIAN. Certificate of physician maybe required as proof of sick- 
ness, 579 ; when he may ask exemption from service as watcher, 606, 
iioi ; on excusing him from funeral, iioi ; there can be no such office as 
physician to the Lodge, 224. 

PICNIC— See Festival, and 454, 458. 

PLEASURE EXCURSION, of Lodge, funds not to be used for, 454; not 
allowed on Sunday, 1121. 

PLEDGE required not to allow use of intoxicants at festival, 212. 

POLITICS. (The Ritual prohibits introduction of political debates into a 
Lodge room.) Lodge may not raise political banner, or make or share 
politic&l demonstration, 2] 7 ; arraignment on political controversy con- 
trary to principles of the Order, 627(10). 

POLYNESIANS not eligible to membership, 367. 

POSTPONING, of election, not allowable, 229(2); when held if not at 
proper time, 233 : of trial, 630, 691, 692. 

POVERTY.— See Indigence. 

PRAYER, may be used to open G. and Sub. L's and E's ; not integral part 
of work except in Encampments ; may not be assigned to any unwilling 
brother, 1098 ; no forms adopted by S.G.L., for opening and closing G. 
and Sub. L's, 1099 ; adoption of form by Sub. L. not good policy, iioo ; 
not to be printed in by-laws, iioo; duty of Chaplain in G.L. and 
Sub. L., 138, 1098; required in G.L. 111., and its place in order, 87, 95. 

PRECEDENCE, of motions, ico; of Committees, 152 ; in procession, 1093, 
1095. 

PRESIDING OFFICER. (Specifically, see Grand Sire, Grand Mas- 
ter, Noble Grand, etc. But the following sections mention Presiding 
Officer generally, though many rules assigned to one officer specifically 
really apply to all others who preside.) 
In G. Body, calls body to order in hall of last previous meeting, etc., 
35; in G.L. 111., is selected by G.L. in absence of G.M. and D.G.M., 
87 ; may pass business by consent, 502 ; appoints pro-tem. officers, 256 ; 
decides questions of order, 962; introduces his L. or E. when visiting 
in a body, 533-4; sees that card is in date when admitting visitor without 
repeating examination, 525. 

PRESS. Use of local press recommended, 1693. 
See Periodicals. 

PRESUMPTION, not made in favor of Lodge in trial beyond the record, 
719, 720 ; in favor of accused till proved guilty, 735, 

PREVIOUS QUESTION, rule of, in G.L. 111., 100. See, also. Rules of 
Order for Sub. L., 340. 

PRICES. — See Supplies, or 1044, note. 

PRIESTLY ORDER, a name of the Third Degree, 846. 

PRINTING, Committee on, in G.L., 161 ; printing of supplies not allowed, 
1042. 



ILLINOIS ODD-FELLOWS' CODE, 397 

.^^=" The figures refer to the sections "^©IH 

PROCEEDINGS. Journal of Proceedings without seal or attestation not 
official to S.G.L. 4- — See Journal. 

Proceedings of Lodge not legal unless charter is in room, 972 ; Sec. 
records proceedings, 291 ; proceedings not invalid when V.G. is not in 
N.G.'s chair in his absence, 283. 

See Meetings, Records, and Chap. XXVII. 
PROCESSION. Order of funeral procession, 1093 [cannot be legally given 
in this Code] ; persons not members of Order may not join any proces- 
sion, 1096; holder of W.C. has no right to join without consent, 1097; 
order of processions generally same as for funeral, 1093 ; G. Rep.'s place 
in procession, 1095 ; in procession only officers and past officers wear 
sashes, 1093 ; place of Encampment in procession, 1093; note on rule of 
procession, and reason of it, 1093. 

Dispensations for procession, 329 (3); processions, except for funerals, not 
allowed without dispensation or special law, 205, 933; dispensation for 
joining other societies, etc., required, 214, 329 ; uniform parade dress, 
925; escort of uniformed Patriarchs, 1094. 
PROPERTY. Property of a Lodge is trust property, for certain uses, 
and may not be divided among members, 476 ; division of Lodge 
property prohibited and to be prevented by civil law, 478-9 ; duty of 
G.M. to prevent division of property, 479; Lodges may not unite mem- 
bership and propert}^ except under laws of G.L., 470; (law for such 
union, 200); Lodges may not dissolve union of memlaership and property, 
200 ; effects of such suspended or expelled Lodge pass to G.L., 184, 195, 
and last officers must deliver, 196 ; statute law on this. Appendix, p. 310. 

Property of Sub. becoming defunct, goes to G. Body, in trust, 1063; and 
kept to await revival, 195-6 ; but may be sold by G. Sec. if revival is 
hopeless, or after three years, 1056 ; property returned on revival of Sub., 
195, 1056 ; but not to less than quorum of former members, 1058 f excep- 
tion, 1059 '> G.L. should use assets of Defuncts for certain purposes, 477; 
Lodge may not sell effects so as to hinder working, 1104 ; property 
should be insured, 11C9, 209. 

See Funds, Loan, Revenue, etc. 
PROPOSITION. (The proposal to admit a person to membership in 
Lodge, often called a petition, because considered as the expression of 
the wish of the person proposed.) 

See Practical Code of Membership, Divs. IV and V, pp. 252-3, and titles 
suggested below. 

Proposition of rejected candidate for initiation not to be renewed for six 
months, 424; proposition in R.D.L., 906-7 ; proposition must be pre- 
sented before discussion of character of man, 397 ; election without peti- 
tion is informal and invalid, 400 ; ballot on each proposition separately, 
402 ; Lodge must ballot on proposition reported on, 403. Petition of 
person claiming to have been member, but unable to show it, 388. 

See INIembership, Committee, Reports, Ballot, Election, Admission 
BY Card, Reinstatement. 
PROSECUTING COMMITTEE, in trial.— See Practical Code, p. 275, 
and points in Divs. IV, V, VI, same Code, and generally other topics 
relating to their duties. 

No time fixed for report of Pros. Com. on information, 652 ; must not be 
Com. on Evidence, 673 ; Dep. should not be one of Pros. Com., 330 (6) ; 
evidence may be introduced by Pros. Com. as justice requires, 677, 682. 

Prosecution may ask change of venue, 713. 



398 ILLINOIS ODD-FELLOWS' CODE. 

4^==" The figures refer to the sections ""^IL 

PROXY. Lodge not represented by proxy member of other Lodge, 80 ; 
Rep. to G.L. may not appoint proxy for himself, 80; P.G's may not 
vote by proxy, 43 ; officer may not fill station by proxy, 267 ; officer 
may not be installed by proxy, 355 ; proxy application for W.C. illegal, 
etc., 492 ; proxy defense on trial, 666-7. 

PUBLICATION. Names of persons suspended or expelled not to be pub- 
lished, except by proper authority, for public good, 750-51 ; names no 
longer published by S.G.L., 750, note. 
See Journals, Periodicals. 

PUNISHMENT.— See Penalty. 

QUALIFICATION, for visitor-to S.G.L., 25; qualification for member- 
ship fixed by S.G.L,, and not to be changed by any G. Body, still less 
by any Sub., 366. 
See Membership, Eligibility, Election, Degrees, Office, Officer, 
Installation, Residence, Morality, Deformity, Visiting, Grand 
Representative, Society (other), and titles suggesting Qualification 
or persons requiring it. 

QUARANTINE, stay in, does not give claim to benefits, 564. 

QUESTION, (I) of Law or Usage. Inquiries entertained by S.G.L. , 
only when coming in appeal or submitted by G. Body, 9 ; decided by 
G. Sire when coming from G.M., G.P., or G. Rep., 20,806 ; decisions of 
G. Sire on questions binding only on parties submitting them, 20, 806; 
Subs, under a G. Body may not present questions to G. Sire, 20; in 
G.L. 111., such question answered only from a Lodge under seal, 94; 
questions go to Jud. Com., 157; Digests and Journals show how to 
decide questions ; committees should refer to these, 164. 
Decisions of G.M. binding till reversed, 20, 115 ; Dep. of G.M. decides 

questions in his place, but only on matters referred to him, 329, 330. 
See Decisions, Appeals. 

(II) of Order and Parliamentary Law. Decided in Lodge by presiding 
officer and Lodge, finally, 962 ; Robert's Rules of Order authority for, 
963 ; Rules of Order, etc., in G.L. 111., 95-102 ; proposed for Subs, as 
given in Model Code, pp. 337-341, in Appendix. 
See Previous Question, and Law, Parliamentary. 

QUORUM. In S.G.L., Reps, of majority of constituent G. Bodies, 10; five 
P.G's necessary for G.L., 28, and in special Degree Sessions, 34; in 
G.L. 111., fifty Rep. members a quorum, 84; quorum of Lodge is five, 
including one qualified to preside, 966, 978; records should show a 
quorum present (ascertained by calling roll), 978 ; Lodge not open nor 
able to do business without quorum, 978-9 ; Lodge may not make by- 
law on quorum, 958 (4) ; quorum of R.D.L, is seven, irrespective of sex, 
914. 
See Meetings. 

RACE, as affecting eligibility to membership, 367, 543. 

RAFFLES, not allowed for benefit of Lodge or in the Order, 206. 

RAILROADS. Title of committee in G.L.; its duties, 162. 

RANK, defined, 865; rank not given by obtaining G.E. Deg. in S.G.L., 
15 ; rank follows name in Jour. S.G.L., 13 ; P.G. is a rank, not an office, 
227; G.L. may not abridge privileges of rank of P.G., 29, 31, 309; 
elective G. Officer superiorj^in rank to Dep. G.M., 357; members of G.L. 
111. designated in debate by rank or office, 97 (3) ; P. G.M. is a rank, 109. 



ILLINOIS ODD-FELLOWS' CODE. 



399 



4@== The figures refer to the sections "^^^ 

RANK — Continued. 

Proof of rank of P.G. necessary to recognition as P.G., 317; rank to be 
named in card, 483 ; G.Rep. of either branch to be so called in card of 
other branch, 483 ; rank named in card not evidence of rank, but shows 
degrees for proving visitor, or in case of P.G.. his regaHa, 521; P.G. 
expelled from G.L. has rank of P.G. still, 866; in Annual Return, 
names arranged by rank, 1039 ; rank of A.O.F., 392. 
See Title. 

RATCHET. Use forbidden, 1 1 13. 

READMISSION. — See Admission by Card, Reinitiation, Reinstate- 
ment. 

REBEKAH DEGREE.— See Degrees. 

REBEKAH-DEGREE LODGE.— See Degree Lodge, D. of R. 

RECEIPTS of the evening go on record, 275, 

RECONSIDERATION of a ballot on a candidate for membership forbid- 
den, with one exception, 409, 410, 4x1, 1007; vote giving W.C. may not 
be reconsidered, 489 ; nor vote sustaining charges, 700. 

RECORD. G.L. may omit proceedings from record, 63 ; Lodge must 
record all proceedings, even errors, 993 ; power to amend records is only 
power to correct errors, 903 ; unsatisfactory record to be amended, 996 
proper time and manner, erasure and interlining being wrong, 997 
record showing candidate rejected, it may not be changed to allow mem^ 
ber to change vote, 993 ; G. Sec. keeps records G.L., 132 ; G M. may 
inspect and copy or cause to be copied records of Lodge; G.L. may 
require copies, 118 ; records should be at every meeting, and not taken 
from Lodge room, 998 ; member in G.L. or Sub. not to be kept out for 
reading of records, 976. 
Presentation of Deputy's commission recorded, 331 ; Dep. to keep record 
of his acts, 328 (7); full records of all things in a trial to be kept, includ- 
ing charges and evidence^ 631, 668 ; records copied and copy sent with 
case on change of venue, 711 ; after change of venue, judgment recorded 
on books of removing Lodge, 711 ; records in trial must show fair deal- 
ing, 719 ; must show citation, 720 ; at all meetings, records should show 
quorum present, 978 ; G.L's may not require Subs, to mutilate records, 
995 ; G. Bodies may allow Lodges working in foreign languages to keep 
records in same; permissions given in 111., 999, 1000 ; record of a court as 
evidence, 678-9 ; copy of records goes with appeal, 791, 793, 796. 
Sec. or other brother may read records in debate, 275 ; receipts of evening 
go on record, 994 ; records of Defunct go to G.L. [G. Sec], 195-6; if 
records of defunct Lodge are lost, G. Officers may issue cards on other 
evidence, 756 (8), 1069 ; proposition for membership goes on record, 396 ; 
resignation of membership goes on record, 541 ; record of one trial 
available in other controversy, 688 ; Black Book records names of ex- 
pelled, etc., 725 ; records under control of Lodge, which can grant copies 
to interested parties, 722-3. 
See Proceedings, Journals. 

REELECTION. No restriction on reelection of officers, 242 ; reelection to 

be held when officer is his own successor, 231. 
REFERENCE TABLES, for comparing Journals S.G.L. and G.L. 111. with 

calendar years, etc. Appendix, pp. 326-336. 



400 ILLINOIS ODD-FELLOWS' CODE. 

4^ The figures refer to the sections "=@H 

REFRESHMENTS, excluded from Lodge rooms, former^r, 210; all 
liquors excluded now, 210 ; not to be paid for from funds of Lodge, nor 
special fund established for the purpose, 458 (i). 

REFUSAL to stand trial, 660, 667 ; refusal of benefits by brother cuts off 
claim for what he has refused, 558 ; refusal of benefits by Lodge, see 
Benefits. Refusal to give W.C., see Card. 

REGALIA, described and general laws given. Chap. XXV, Sees. 917-940. 
Regalia of members and officers, 917; aprons. Appendix, p. 324; of 
P.G's, 918, 919 ; G.L. 111. furnishes no regalia to members, but all must 
wear regalia in session, 97 (4), 924 ; regalia of G. Rep. and P.G. Rep., 
923 ; G. Rep. elect may not wear regalia of G. Rep., 13, note ; parade 
dress for Sub. L's in public procession, 925 ; on use of regalia at funeral 
of brother's wife or Daughter of Rebekah, 1080-2, and see Addenda^ 
after this Index. 
All visitors may wear regalia of highest degree taken, even Encampment 
regalia in a G.L. or L., 926-7 ; members may always wear the colors of all 
their degrees, 917, 927 ; but may not wear regalia of Encampment in 
G.L. or L. except as visitors, 926 [this repealed in 1882, see Addenda, at 
close of Index] ; every member must wear suitable regalia, of office or 
highest rank, 928-9, 930 ; G.M. visiting officially wears G.M.'s regalia, 
125; regalia of pro-teni. officer, as of V.G. acting N.G., 283, 929; 
regalia necessary on entering Lodge, and for remaining in it, 931, 975 ; 
regalia of Jun. P.G.,932; regalia not worn with ceremonial robe, 929 ; 
April 26th to be celebrated with processions in regalia, 205, 1086. 
Procession or festival in regalia only under allowance of law or dispensa- 
tion) 212, 933 ; regalia of D. of R., 934, 935 ; funeral regalia, 936-9 ; 
use of swords, belts, etc., as regalia, forbidden, 940 ; no regalia to be 
used except as authorized by S.G.L., 37 ; Lodges may not require mem- 
bers to furnish regalia, 930 ; regalia in procession, 1093 ; Lodges may 
not sell regalia so as to be unable to work, 1104; P.G's regalia to be 
given to visitor called P.G. in his card, 522 ; Lodge may assess tax to 
buy official regalia, 456 (8). 
See Jewels. 

REGISTER, of membership. Sec. keeps, 291 ; of Patriarch's belonging to 
Lodge, 294 ; of returns, in which they are entered before installation, 
343. 1039 (i)- 

REGISTRATION, of letters to G. Sec. with money, not required now as 
formerly, Jour. G.L. 111., Ill, 523. 

REINITIATION, not allowed ; but persons claiming former membership 
failing to prove it may be initiated (thus in fact, sometimes, reinitiated), 
388-9, 390, 392. 

REINSTATEMENT. (The recovery of full membership, or the act of 
replacing in membership, after a loss of it by expulsion, suspension or 
dropping.) 

(I) of a Lodge. See Revival, Defunct. 

(II) of a person. See Practical Code of Membership, Div. X, pp. 
256-7, and the following. 

G.L. may reinstate without consent of Lodge by reversing decision, 788 ; 
reinstatement does not occur by revival of one's Lodge merely, 1060 ; 
how grade in new work is determined on reinstatement, 847 ; no dues 
charged on reinstatement after expulsion if that was legal ; otherwise if 
legal, 452 ; but any required fee must be paid, 429 : one reinstated after 



ILLINOIS ODD-FELLOWS' CODE. 401 

4^ The figures refer to the sections °^@|IL 

REINSTATEMENT —C^^^z-m?^^^. 

dropping is not at once entitled to benefits, 764; in 111., not till six 
months pass, 786, 548; one suspended for cause does not lose right to 
benefits on reinstatement, 565 (12) ; reinstatement of Encampment mem- 
ber into Lodge to be notified to Encampment by Sec, 294. 

REJECTION, is by ballot only, 404 ; not to be set aside by change of ballot 
or of record, 409 ; rejection 'oy three balls, 405 ; legal reconsideration of 
rejection, 411 ; notice to other Lodges, 424 ; no new ballot on same person 
for six months, on proposition for initiation, 424 ; this limit not on other 
propositions, 424 ; rejection not voidable for alleged errors, 410 ; rejection 
subject to local law, 408 ; in R.D.L., 907. 

RELIEF. (Regular weekly or funeral benefits : also, charitable donations.) 
See in general Chap. XVI. 
How pecuniary relief may be given to one admitted as non-beneficial, 428 ; 
duty of Lodge to see that brother in distress is attended to, 544; relief 
given on card to be repaid, 464 ; Lodge bound to repay relief given for 
proper reasons, sick benefits, etc., but not for other causes, 581 ; Lodge 
not responsible for relief fraudulently obtained, 582 ; no specific annuity 
to widows by our laws, but allowance suited to circumstances, 595 ; ex- 
traordinary relief to be given in some cases, 605. 
See Aid, Charity, Donation, Benefits, Asylums and Calamity. 

RELIEF COMMITTEE.— See Committee, Div. Ill, and Board of 
Relief. 

RELIGION. None disquahfies for membership, 365 ; no distinction be- 
tween religion of O.T. and N.T., in Odd-Fellowship, 439 ; attendance at 
religious exercises as an excuse, 744. 

REMISSION, Oi dues, not allowable, 453, 440, 817 ; of fines, allowable only 
in case of legal excuse, 739, 741, 744-5. 

REjNIOVAL, (I) of Sub. L. or E. to new location. Not in official power of 
G.M. under general laws ; special laws, 115, and note. 

(II) of Deputy. How effected and when legal, 332. 

(III) of Officer. Officer of Lodge absent more than three evenings maybe 
removed after third absence, if this be done at once, but not if overlooked 
awhile, 261,263 ; officer taking card and, without resigning, leaving for 
avowedly long absence may be removed at once, 263 ; officers removable 
only under laws of G.L., 259. 

Removal from office proper penalty for absence or official misconduct, 259, 
724, 744, 748 ; but not for immoralty, 259 ; officer installed not remov- 
able for absence if there is no local law, 262 ; officer absenting himself 
from installation in anyway may be removed at once, 257-8; officer 
failing to commit his part removable, 271 ; Dep. has no power to remove 
officer. Lodge only can do it, 330(8); G.M. cannot remove officer, 126; 

(IV) of Grand Officer. How done, and for what, iii ; of G. Rep., 18. 

(V) of Trustees. How done, and for what, 1020. 

(VI) of Trial. See Venue, or Sec. 711. 

See Vacancy, Penalty, Suspension, Official Misconduct. 
RENUNCIATION, not a legal resignation, 538; but cuts off" claim for 

benefits, 564 (6). 
REPORT, (I) of a coynmittee , if written, must be complete in itself, 988 
but may be oral sometimes, 988 ; written report is not before Lodge 
till read, 987; rvoim. possession of Lodge till accepted, 987. — See Com- 
mittee, especially Part II, and paragraphs relating to committees on 
27 



402 ILLINOIS ODD-FELLOWS' CODE. 

4®=" The figures refer to the sectio7is '"'^M^ 

^Y.VO^T — Contimted. 

proposition, complaint and evidence. Committee reports in G.L., 95, 96, 
loi, 152. 

(II) of G. Officers. From G.M., 115 ; customarily presented by G. Sec. 
and G. Treas., thousrh no law requires ; printed before session, 132, note. 

(III) of Dep. to G.M., 327 (8). 

(IV) of installation and institution, 360, 179. 

(V) of G.L. to S.G.L., and of Stcb. L. to G.L., see Returns. 

(VI) of officers to Lodge, Sec. 291 ; Fer. Sec, 297; Treas., monthly and 
other, 301 ; these examined by Fin. Com., 1025, 1035. 

REPRESENTATIVE, (I) ^^ vS.C^.Z.— See Grand Representatives. 

(II) to Grand Lodge. Each Lodge has one, and but one, 72 ; he must 
represent his own Lodge only, 77; must be P.G. in good standing, 72 ; 
retiring N.G. eligible, if already a P.G. by previous service, 76, 227 ; 
Rep. may not appoint proxy, 80; term of Rep. is two years, 77 ; divis- 
ion into classes, 73 ; needs no certificate second ^'•ear, 77 ; when and how 
chosen, 75, 78; credentials, form of, 74; credentials for vacancy, 79; 
certificate in duplicate, one copy to G. Sec, 75 ; mileage and per diem 
paid to Reps., 163 ; rules of allowance of M. and P.D., Rep. absent first 
two days may not have, 81 ; fifty Reps, make quorum, 84; Rep. casts 
vote of Lodge on call of Lodges, 93. 

Lodge may not elect a Rep. to supersede one legally in office, 324 ; expul- 
sion vacates office, 324 ; Rep. receives copy of Journal, 104 ; Reps, on 
committees have extra pay for one day if attending in advance, 165 ; 
Rep. becomes Dep. when commissioned by G.M., and then only, 323 ; 
G.M. not obliged to appoint Rep. as Dep., 322; Jun. P.G. may be 
elected Rep. [but not until he has passed the chair], 227 ; Rep. has no 
additional privilege in Lodge, 266 ; supplies may be delivered to Rep., 
1049 ; Rep. has no vote when seat is contested, 1004 ; ma}^ not leave 
G.L. without permission, 81. 

Representative bodies judge qualification of their members, 30. 

See Grand Lodge, Grand Lodge of Illinois, Grand Body, etc. 
REPRIMAND. Third grade of penalty, 728 ; can be inflicted only after a 
trial, 610 ; prescribed penalty for first offense of drunkenness, 752 ; cen- 
sure may not be passed b}^ Lodge on member of another Lodge, 611 ; 
suspended by appeal, 730, 329 (2). 
RESIDENCE. G. Rep. must reside in state represented, 13 ; G. Bodies 
may allow residents to join Subs, not in their jurisdictions, 62 ; residents 
of one county may ask for Lodge in another covmty, 171 ; applicant for 
membership must join nearest Lodge except in cities, 372-3 ; penalty on 
Lodge receiving member contrary to this law, 373-4 ; distance estimated 
in view of convenience, and not by air*line, 375-6; law for mutual 
admission along the lines of states bordering on Illinois, viz : with Indi- 
ana and Wisconsin. 

How a person not familiar with language of nearest Lodge may join 
remoter one, 378 ; temporary residence, as of soldier, not sufficient quali- 
fication, 375, 377, and Addenda ; residence of six months prior to initia- 
tion required in Illinois, except in case of references in the Order, 372 ; 
person elected at or near residence may not be initiated elsewhere, 420; 
residence prior to admission by card may not be required by law, 379 ; 
Lodge may not admit as member one from another jurisdiction witliout 
leave of G.M. , under penalty, 62, 374 ; privileges as member not less by 
non-resident membership, 374. 



ILLINOIS ODD-FELLOWS' CODE. 403 

4^;^ The figures refer to the sections "^Jll 

RESIDENCE — C^«^z«z/^^. 

Dispensation to initiate non-resident not legal, 375 ; holder of card bound 
by same rules of residence, 331, 391 ; brother may not take W.C. and 
join Lodge awa^' from his residence, except to organize new Lodge, 383 ; 
benefits or V.C. not to be refused to brothers residing abroad, or in haz- 
ardous climate, 565 (2, 4) ; residence away from Lodge does not excuse 
absent officer, 745 ; testimony of non-resident witness, how taken, 675. 
See Membership. 

RESIGNATION, (I) of office. Installed officer can resign by consent only, 
229 ; resignation forfeits honors of office, and P.O. Deg., but not compen- 
sation for actual service, no, 264, 270, 310 ; if officer-elect resigns, new 
election held forthwith, 258 ; officer departing without resignation 
vacates office in stated case, 263. 
(II) ofinembership. Mode of terminating membership, 487, 538 ; severs 
completely from the Order, 538; person resigning becomes A.O.F. at 
once, 392 ; resignation should be written, 487, 537, 538 ; renunciation is 
not resignation, 538 ; Lodge not boimd to accept resignation when there is 
ground of charges, but they must be brought immediately, etc., 541; 
resignation not accepted in pendency of charges, or in case of indebted- 
ness, 538, 487, nor during pendency of appeal affecting standing of 
brother that offers it, 790 ; no action on resignation but to record it, 541 ; 
member holding W.C. may surrender it (same as resignation), 516 ; if 
W.C. is refused, applicant may resign and demand certificate, 537, 539 ; 
form of certificate, 540; which is evidence of good standing, 537. 

RESUSCITATION of a Lodge.— See Revival. 

RETURNS. (The regular reports of its work made by a G. or Sub.L. or E. 
to its superior G. Body : often called Reports.) 

(I) of G. Body to S.G.L. What they must be, 65 ; made out by G. Sec. 
or G. Scribe, on form furnished, 65 ; to correspond with fiscal year 
S.G.L. , and sent with dues, 27, 65 ; include names of G.M. or G. P., 
G. Sec, G. Scribe, with addresses, etc., ()(>. 

(II) of Subordinates, especially of S^tb. L's. Outgoing officers make out 
and certify at close of term report of work of Lodge, 219, 1031 ; 
Sec. m^akes it out, 291 ; but Per. Sec. makes Annual Report, 
297, 1039 (3) ; officers in chairs when report is presented sign it, 1037 ; new 
officers furnish their signatures in it, 1036 ; retiring N.G. may not report 
himself a P. G. unless so previously, 319, 1034 ; when approved by Lodge, 
Sec. may not alter, 1033 ; Dep. to see that returns are duly made, and 
made before installation, 342, and registered, 291, 343. 

Dep. may not interfere with or disapprove if Lodge approves, 343 ; 
G. Sec. authorized to prescribe form and make regulations, 1038 ; dupli- 
cate to be kept, recorded, 291, 297, 1039 (i) ; — detail of instructions, 
1039 ; fiscal statistics, form of, 1032 ; these sent with annual returns, 
1032. 

Penalties for failure to send repealed, 1031 ; but failure to report a year 
makes Lodge defunct by law and forfeits charter, 193, 197 ; neglect of 
Lodge to report does not deprive N.G. of the term of his honors and 
rights, 31 ; last report of a Lodge shows its vote in G.L., 93 ; returns are 
priinafacie evidence of a P.G's standing, 82. 

Returns of R.D.L., failure to make, for thirty days after due, forfeits char- 
ter, 901, 902, 910J return made of libraries belonging to Lodges in 111., 
1092. 

Com. on Returns, G.L., 154. 



404 ILLINOIS ODD-FELLOWS' CODE, 

4®= The figures refer to the sections "^3|L 

REVENUE, of S.G.L., 27 ; may be raised by G. Body even without consti- 
tutional provision, 50 ; assessment upon Subs., 50 ; certain taxes on 
Subs, forbidden, 52-57; enumeration of some means of revenue does not 
exclude others, 50. 
See Dues, Fees, Funds, Finance, Grand Bodies, Assessment, and 
other related titles. 

REVIVAL, of defunct Sub. L., may be effected by quorum of former mem- 
bers, with old name, number and effects, 180, 195,^058; none of the 
revivers- to be then members of other Subs., 1058 ; revival may be had 
with only one former member, if others cannot be found, 1059 .' not all 
former members restored by a revival, 393, 1060 ; how they may be 
restored, 394 ; at revival of suspended or expelled Lodge, old officers 
resume places, 1061. 
[See Form 3, p. 286, and next title in this Index.] 

REVIVED LODGE. EHgibiHty to office in revived Lodge, 249; P.O. 

Degrees to first N.G. and V.G. in revived Lodge, 315 ; length of first 

term of revived Lodge, 238. See Revival. 
REVOKE.— See Annul. 

RIGHT HAND, loss of, does not necessarily disqualify for membership, 
370, nor for office, 249 ; may cause annulment of election, 414. 

RITUAL. (The '' Ritual " was formxcrly in two books ; one contained the 
written work used in the Initiatory Degree and in Installation ; the other, 
the lectures of the degrees. The former was specially '' The Charge 
Book"; but the Degree Book was called a charge-book in S.G.L., 
Jour., pp. 3876, 4187.) 
Ritual is source of law, 8 ; Lodge may have four copies, 1046 ; furnished 
to new Lodge, 1050 ; Lodge working in one language may have Rituals 
in another, if it does not interfere with any other Lodge in same place, 
218 ; such Lodge may have two sets of Rituals, 195 ; Rituals in keeping 
of N.G., and must not be taken from Lodge room, 276 ; kept by N.G. 
until successor is installed, 276. 
Ritual sold by G.L. as supplies, and how, 1044-5; no charges to be used 
but those made by the S.G.L., 863 ; officers must have charges learned, 
271 ; Ritual does not give compulsory- " Order of Business," 989. 

ROBE, not worn with regalia, 929, ,*.- 

ROBERT'S Rules of Order, governs parliamentary practice in G.L. in 
cases not settled by its own rules, 102 ; adopted as standard for G.L. and 
Sub. L., 963. 

ROOM.— See Lodge Room. 

ROOM WARDEN. Not an officer of Sub. L., 225. 

ROSETTES. May be worn with regalia, and how, 917, 927, 934, 936, 938. 

ROYAL-PURPLE DEGREE.— See Degrees, Div. VI. 

RULES OF ORDER (I) of G.L. Illinois. In full, 95-102 ; may be amend- 
ed or rescinded only by majority of two-thirds of members voting, 102. 
(II) of Sub. Lodge. Lodge may adopt, and should do so, 945, 961 ; how 
suspended, 961 ; penalties should not be in R. of O., 964 ; order of busi- 
ness in Ritual not compulsory, 989 ; rules of Model Code given, recom- 
mended, but not prescribed, p. 337, in Appendix; "^^ohtxt'^ Rules of 
Order adopted as authority, 102, 963 ; R. of O. of R.D.L., 914. 



ILLINOIS ODD-FELLOWS' CODE. 405 

1^^ The figures refer to the sections ^"©H 

SABBATH. — See Sunday, the proper word, the Sabbath laws being meant 

for Sunday laws ; the laws of the S.G.L. have always used the word 

Sunday. 
SALARY, may be paid to,Sec., but not made retrospective, fixed before he is 

elected, 269. 
SANGAMON LODGE CASE, leading case on rights and claims of 

relatives of deceased brother, 599. 

SASHES, in procession, worn by officers and past officers only, 1093. 
See Regalia, or 917, 918. 

SCANDINAVIAN.— See Foreign Language. 

SCARLET DEGREE.— See Degrees, Divs. II and III, and Third 
Degree. 

SCRIBE, (so far as concerns Lodge business only), to furnish Sec. list of 
Encampment members in his Lodge, and to receive information in 
return, 294. 

SEAL. Seal of S.G.L. in keeping of G. Sec. of S.G.L. , used only on papers 
from his office ; use on private diploma for royalty refused, 21 ; each . 
G. Bod}^ has G. Seal, and sends impression to S.G.L. in wax, 67; seal 
must be on constitutions and official pamphlets sent to S.G.L., 4 ; com- 
munications from G.M. valid without seal, though he is generally fur- 
nished with paper having it, 121 ; receipts of G. Sec. valid without 
G. Seal, 132 ; seal must be impressed, not affixed or pasted on, 204. 
Lodge must have seal and use on all official papers, 203 ; proof impression 
sent to G. Sec, 203 ; to be used by G. Sec. only, and only as required 
by law, 293 ; card must have seal, 483 ; unauthorized use of seal is official 
misconduct, 293; member making copy of a seal of G. or Sub. L., or 
using a seal not in his official custody, to be expelled, 624. 

SEAMAN CASE (appeal to S.G.L.). Decision cited, 485. 

SECRECY. Required in respect to ballot, 620 (2, 3); not required except 
of transactions private in nature, 627 (6) ; required as to name of in- 
formant, 639, 643 ; violated by publishing names of persons expelled for 
N.P.D., 750. 

SECRET, (I) Sessions of S.G.L. Certain sessions to which, as a rule, only 

the members of the S.G.L. are admitted, 25, 
(II) Work. The description of the signs, etc., which no one is permitted 

to write : it is contained in the '■' Book of Diagrams," to which G. Reps. 

only have access, mentioned often in Jour. S.G.L. 
See Secrecy. 

SECRETARY, is elective officer of Lodge, 222 ; his duties, 291 ; exempt 
from dues, and may have salary, too, 291, 269 : use of seal by Sec, 293; 
sends to G. Sec. immediate notice of suspensions or expulsions, 725 ; 
sends same to Encampment, if Scribe has given list of Encampment 
members, 294; issues certificate of standing and grade to applicant for 
Encampment membership, 296 ; should not pay money to Treas. not 
legally installed, with bond, 298 ; Past Sec. has a P.O. Deg., 310. 
Sec. pa^'s dues when taking V.C., 450 ; attests card, 483; may not with- 
hold a granted card, 496 ; if financial officer, must settle accounts, etc., 
before taking W.C., 570; may read records in debate, 275; loses no 
right by holding office, 275 ; gives bond, if he acts as Per. Sec, 300; is 
entitled to benefits, even if indebted to Lodge, 565 (10) ; finable for not 



406 ILLINOIS ODD-FELLOWS' CODE. 

4®^ The figures refer to the sections "^IL 

SECRETARY— C^;z^m2^^^. 

sending key, 747 : regalia, 917 ; must have records at every meeting, and 
not needlessly take books from Lodge room, 998 ; meets Fin. Com. to 
have books audited, 1025 ; Sec. pro tern, signs papers, even those relat- 
ing to himself, 292. 
-i®^ Duties of Sec. in a trial, see in Practical Code, Div. VII, p. 276. 
Sec. signs and issues dismissal certificate without vote, 501, 772 ; must 
record all proceedings, legal or not, 993 ; his record maj^ be corrected, 
996-7 ; but he may not correct it without orders, if once accepted, 997 ; 
Sec. should not be Trustee, if avoidable, 1018 ; signs reports to G.L., 
1037 ; may not alter reports after accepted, 1033 ; how he makes out 
reports, 1039 ; Sec. in R.D.L., 909. 
See Officer, Office, Permanent Secretary, Returns, Records, 
Seal, Scribe, Watching, and other titles relating to duties of Sec. 

SECRETARY, PERMANENT, see Permanent Secretary. 

SECURITIES, meaning Funds, see Funds ; meaning guarantors in a bond, 
see Bond. 

SESSIONS, (I) of S.G.L. Time and place, 24 (Historical list, p. 313); 
visitors admitted, but not to secret sessions, 25 ; no journal of secret 
session printed, 26. 

(II) of G. Body, In default of special order, to be at last place of assem- 
bling, 35 ; time of regular session reported to S.G.L. for its Jovirnal, 66. 

(III) of G.L. Ill (Historical Information, Appendix, page 314.) Regu- 
lar session in November, third Tuesday, 84, 87; power of G.M. to call 
sessions, 84, 85, 115; special Degree Sessions, law of, 34, 85; rule of 
business at regular and special sessions, 86 ; invitations to hold, 88. 

SICK, care of. Brother liable to same penalty for neglect of transient and 
home sick, 620 (6) ; sick entitled to care without reference to state lines, 
1102 ; by-laws may not set limits to watching service, 958 (7) ; physician 
in active practice should be excused from watching service, iioi ; legal 
summons to attend sick, 603 ; brother sick while holding card entitled to 
assistance, 503. 
General principles governing relief, 544. 
See Relief, Sickness, Benefits, Visiting Committee, and Watching. 

SICKNESS, defined, 601 ; may be shown to exist, dcs'^iX.Q pri7na-facie case 
to contrary, 602 ; if caused by immorality, no benefits due, 568 ; member 
in arrears cannot gain rights by paying up during sickness, 561 ; Lodge 
may require evidence of sickness from absent brother, 570; notice of 
sickness may be required, one unable to give it is excusable, 571, 572; 
notice may be given to Lodge to N.G., V.G. or Vis. Com., 573 ; case of 
failure to give notice, 571, note. 
[See Sick, care of ; Benefits, Relief, Visiting Committee, Watch- 
ing, etc. 

SIGNATURE. Signing constitution required, 417 ; card of applicant may 
be reclaimed by him until signing constitution, in 111., which consummates 
even an informal membership, 400, 419, 486, 517 ; signature not erased 
on expulsion, etc., 821 ; signatures of new elective officers required in 
returns, 1036; returns not delayed for signatures of regular officers, 1037, 
1039 (8) ; signature of G. Sec. of S.G.L. needed on card, but not of State 
G. Sec, 483 ; holder of card signs it, 483 ; application for W.C. must be 
signed by applicant, 488. 

SIGNS, 823. 



ILLINOIS ODD-FELLOWS' CODE. 407 

^^ The figures refer to the sections "=^©11 

SISTER, (I) of an Odd-Fellow, eligible to R. Deg., 874, 876, 879. 

(II) of Deg. Rebekah, may be member of R.D.L., 888; if not member of 
R.D.L., has no right to its S.A.P.W., nor to visit it, 895; may not be 
admitted to Sub. L. as witness, 687; funeral of, 1080-1-2, and Addenda 
after this Index ; cards for, 1044, 518, and Appendix, pp. 295-6-7; Di- 
plomas for, 1044-5 ; if she has requisite P.W's, may visit any Sub. L. 
open in R. Deg., 882 ; if member of R.D.L., holds membership irre- 
spective of husband's standing, 883. 

See Degree, Part VII ; Degree Lodge, D. of R. 

SOCIETY, benevolent, in R. ^&z., 903-4; O.F's may join any other lega 
society, 371 ; brothers attending a funeral in ranks of another society 
liable to penalty for non-attendance as O.F., 1078 ; prohibition of other 
work in Lodge room does not apply to other societies using room, 864. 

SOLDIER, as candidate for membership, 377, and Addenda at close of 

Index. 
SOUTHERN CARDS, legalized, 483. 

SOVEREIGN GRAND LODGE, is head of the Order, i ; has sole power 
to extend Order where not established, i ; can take away charter only 
for violation of law, 2 ; cannot alter charter without consent, 2 ; must 
have approved constitution of G. Body or amendment thereto before it is 
valid, 3 ; may revise what has been approved, 5 ; regulates the Work, 
6 ; makes all general laws, 7 ; entertains queries only from G. Bodies, 9. 
S.G.L. is composed of its officers and representatives, and P.G. Sires, 10; 
decides all contested elections to its own body, 15 ; officers named, 19; 
qualifications of officers and members, 19 ; meets third iSIonday of 
September, or specially, 24 ; sources of its revenue, 27 ; has made and 
enforced a per-capita assessment, 27, note; less than quorum may 
adjourn, or act on credentials, 10; admits visitors, 25 ; regalia«of S.G.L. , 

923- 
J^^The S.G.L. is frequently mentioned elsewhere, but incidentally 

luith other subjects ; refere^ices need not be given unrf.er this title. 
4f^See Historical Information, Appendix, p. 312-13. 

SPECIFICATION, in charges and trials, gives details under a charge, 668, 

669 ; voting on, 693, 727. 
SPURIOUS LODGES, law against, 625 ; See Work of the Order. 
STANDARD TRACT.— See Tract, Standard. 
STANDING COMMITTEES.— See Committee. 
STATE OF THE ORDER.— Committee in G.L., 155. 

STAY OF PROCEEDINGS, may be provided by state laws in case of 
appeal, 803 ; Dep. may interpose in proceedings which appear illegal, or 
fraudulent, or irregular, 328 (2); and in appeals, Dep. may arrest 
penalty, 329, 730, but may not arrest trial, 329 (2). 

STEWARD, may be chosen, but is not officer of Lodge, 225 ; O.G. may 
be Steward, but N.G. may not be required to appoint Steward as O.G. 
229, 256. 

STOCKS, belonging to Lodge, 455. 

SL'BORDINATE. All Lodges and Encampments are Subordinate except 
the S.G.L.; to it all Grand Bodies are directly subordinate ; and to these 
the Subordinate Lodges and Encampments specially- called so are 



408 ILLINOIS ODD-FELLOWS' CODE, 

4®^ The figures refer to the sections ^"©H 

SUBORDINATE — C^;2/mz^^^. 

subordinate ; Lodges and Encampments of this lower grade are subject 
directly to the S.G.L. if in territory for which no G. Body has been 
created. See, generally , Chaps I, II and VII, and the titles next following. 

SUBORDINATE ENCAMPMENT. See Encampment. 

SUBORDINATE LODGE. As almost the whole constitution and legis- 
lation of the Order relate in result to Subordinate Lodges, the larger 
part of the Code might be reindexed under this term. Hence no index- 
ing of this title is given ; let the inquirer consult the various subjects 
relating to a Lodge, 
See, for General Laws on Sub. L's, Chap. VII. 

SUICIDE. Benefits not refusable for suicide, 565 (6). 

SUIT AT LAW. How Lodge may sue or be sued, 475; p. 311; maybe 
undertaken to prevent perversion of funds, 478, 479 ; pecuniary affairs, 
such as may involve suit, are not to be meddled with by Lodge, 627 (12), 
628 ; for debt of a member, 565 (9). 

SUMMONS. Issued by Sec, 291 ; should be obeyed, even if Lodge errs 
in issuing, 622 ; summoning witnesses, 674. 
See Trials, Contempt, and especially Citation. 

SUNDAY, may not be used for meetings, except for funeral purposes, 969, 
970 ; nor for committee work, 1013-14; nor for pleasure excursions, 1121. 

SUPPLIES. Meaning of the term, 1042; kept and sold by G. Sec, 132; 
not to be printed by private parties, 1042 ; prices given on cover of 
annual Journal, 1044 ; some sold to individuals, others to Subs, only, 
and sales for cash only, 1045 ; cards only on written order or to a Rep. 
at G.L., 1049 '> what is given new Lodges, 1050; Lodge working in two 
languages may have two sets of books, one in each tongue, T054 ; a 
Lodge may have four Rituals as a set, 1046. 
See Diploma, Charges, Cards, Odes, Charge-Books, etc 

SUPPORTERS. Supporters of G. Master, 130, 139 ; appomtive officers of 
Lodge, 222 ; how appointed, 239, 256, 273, 287; occupy chairs of their 
principals, temporarily, 283-4, 289 ; may not administer O.B.N. , 282, 
289 ; may not cause term P.W. to be given, 831 ; regalia, 917, 921 ; by 
courtesy, R.S.N.G. assists in examining ballot, 406. 

SURPLUS, of relief fund, 64 ; of collection for anniversary, 459. 

SURRENDER. Surrender of card on order of Lodge is revocation of it; 
if voluntsry, equivalent to resignation, 516. 
Surrender of charter, effects, etc, see Charter, Property, Defunct, 
Suspension, etc. 

SUSPENDED LODGE, and SUSPENSION OF LODGE. Suspended 
Lodge is called Defunct, 1054; to take charter of Lodge without trial 
is unjust, 59 ; G.M. in recess may suspend Lodge for violating laws, 
123; such suspension valid till G.L, meets, 124 ; suspension takes 
effect as soon as proclaimed, 124; in 111. no Lodge to be suspended 
without trial, and how tried, 197, exceptions to this law, 197 ; suspended 
Lodge gives up effects, 195-6. 
Lodge holding festival contrary to law, to be suspended, 213 ; G.M. may 
suspend Lodge whose members attempt illegal distribution, 479 ; all 
functions of suspended Lodge cease, and acts are void, 415, 1061 ; offi- 
cers cannot be elected, nor installed, nor honors gained, 241. 
4®^ Cases of suspension of Lodges in Illinois, 197, note. 
See Defunct, Revival, Revived Lodge. 



ILLINOIS ODD-FELLOWS' CODE. 409 

4^^ The figures refer to the sections ^^|l 

SUSPENDED MEMBER, and SUSPENSION OF MEMBERS. Sus- 
pension a temporary punishment, 732 ; definite, if for cause, 732 ; time 
determined by Sub., subject to G. Body, 732, note; in 111. suspension 
not less than eight days nor more than one year, 732 ; suspended mem- 
ber liable for dues, and for bad conduct, 451, 617, 732 ; cut off from all 
benefits and privileges, even in case of death or sickness, 732-3, 1074 ; 
and his widow has no claims, 598 ; may not ask for card, 484 ; but 
Lodge may not refuse to receive communications from him, 732 ; may 
be cited as witness, and admitted to Lodge to testify, 674 ; or if subject 
to further charges must be admitted for trial, 716. 
Suspension not inflicted except after trial, 610 ; and is third legal penalty, 
728 ; sundry illegal penalties held equivalent to suspension, 736 ; pre- 
scribed penalty for second offense of drunkenness, 752 ; suspension not 
necessarily secret, 751 ; suspension from ofhce not allowable, 259, 729 ; 
suspension carries loss of olhce, 260, 749 ; how suspension is voted, 702 ; 
suspension may be voted only at certain meetings, 703 ; notice sent to 
other Lodges entered in Black Book, 725 ; notice to G. Sec, 725 ; notice 
to Scribe of Encampment, 294 ; suspension arising from error to be 
revoked, 567 ; suspended person may appeal, 791 ; suspension termi- 
nated by G. Body without consent of Sub., 788 ; stay of suspension for 
appeal, 730; exclusion for want of term P.W. is not suspension, 733. 
Suspended person paying dues not deprived of benefits on reinstatement, 
565 (2) ; dispensation cannot allow regalia at funeral of suspended per- 
son, 329 (3), 1054; rejoining of suspended member of revived Lodge, 
394-5; suspended person may not join other Lodge (except by consent), 
362-3 ; person suspended can be reinstated onl^^ on evidence of former 
connection, etc., 363, 395 ; reason for suspension given in returns to 
G.L., 1039 (5) ; person suspended for definite time not reinstated till it 
expires, 816; suspension ceases when time expires, 732; name not 
erased at suspension, 821. 
See Penalty, Non-Payment, Dropping, Trials, Reinstatement. 

SUSPENSION OF BENEFITS.— See Benefits. 

SUSPENSION OF WORK, temporary. Bylaw of 1861, the G.M. w^ 
empowered to allow by dispensation a temporary suspension of work 
during the war of the secession to Lodges asking the privilege, the sus- 
pension to terminate with the war. The charter and effects were not to be 
reclaimed, as of a defunct Lodge, but put into safe custody in charge of a 
Deputy. The enactment expired by limitation, ///. ///, 262, 331. Dues 
were not pa^^able to a Lodge during temporary suspension, ///, 292. 

SWEDISH. — See Foreign Language. 

SWORDS. Use prohibited, 940. [This prohibition has reference only to 
processions of Lodges : the sword is a regular part of the uniform of 
certain Encampments.] 

TAVERN. Lodge may not meet in tavern, 189. 

TAX, {^Assessments. Called dues, 434; holder of V.C. liable to, 437; 
for what legally levied, 430, 432, 461-2 ; must be levied to pay benefits, 
461. — See Assessments. 

(II) Representative. $75 for each G. Rep., whether sent or not, 11 ; 
part of S.G.L. revenue, 27. 

(III) Capitation. Reckoned on G.L. members, allowable basis ot 
revenue, 50; on members of I/s, means of revenue in 111., 198; how 
reckoned, 199 ; to be sent before installation, 342 ; how sent, 1039 (9, 10). 

TEMPERANCE, 627 (8). 



410 ILLINOIS ODD-FELLOWS' CODE, 

4®^ The figures refer to the sections "=^11 

TERM, o/G. Rep., begins with session next after his election, and is two 
years, 13. 
of G.L. officers, one year, 33, 41 ; of Rep. to G.L. 111., two years, 73. 
of Lodge and Lodge officers, six months, twenty-six nights, 321, 1028; 
may be extended by G.L. to one year or more, but must have regular 
number of meetings, 1028 ; time of beginning and ending, 1028, 1029 ; 
term of new or revived Lodge, 238 ; termof R.D.L., one year, 888 (2), 911 ; 
terms cannot be shortened by dispensation, 321 ; term of Trustee, one 
year, 1018 ; of P. Sec, one year, 297. 

TERM P.W.— See Password, Part IIL 

TEST OATH, not allowable, 529 ; tests of membership, 522, 529. 

TESTIMONY.— See Evidence and Witness. 

THIRD DEGREE, highest degree of Sub. L., same as Scarlet Degree of 
laws prior to 1880, 846, and History, Appendix, p. 320. 

THIRD-DEGREE MEMBERS, may be admitted to G. Installation, 36 ; 
may not vote for G. Officers, 42 ; not eligible as N.G. on one term's ser- 
vice, etc., 249 ; eligible under dispensation, if all others qualified refuse, 
250; necessary for appHcation for new Lodge, 168; sometimes fills 
V.G/s chair, 289 ; entitled to certificate of standing to join Encamp- 
ment, 296 ; larger benefits ma^'' be allowed to Third-Degree members, 
547; entitled to R. Deg. for self and wife, 870 ; their widows entitled to 
R. Deg. in certain cases, 874-5. 

TIE VOTE, in election in G.L. 111., settled by lot, 104; tie vote is no 
expression of opinion on question, 122 ; in Sub. L. decision of tie by lot 
not allowed. 236 ; how to proceed, 236, 1019 ; in case of tie on question, 
N.G. gives casting vote, ico6. 

TITLE, of the Order, and how abbreviated, 1084 ; titles of the Order not 

to be used for private benefit, 620 (8), 941 ; title of S.G.L., i ; title of 

G.L. 111., 70. 
(Designation of Rank or Office.) In S.G.L. Journal to be put after name, 

13; ''M.W." and '* R.W." designate elective G. Officers, formerly, 
* now disused; no such title as " Right Reverend," 138; P.G.M. may 

announce his title on visiting Sub. L., 148; used in debate, etc., 97 (3). 

TRACT, standard, on Odd-Fellowship, issued by S.G.L. , a short treatise on 
the history and character of the Order. It is no longer published as a 
tract, but is in the Book of Forms, and in the edition of 1870 of White's 
Digest. 

TRAFFIC in intoxicatmg drinks, why not forbidden by by-law, 629. 
See Intoxicating Drinks. 

TREASON, subject to penalty, 620 (11). 

TREASURER. (Lodge Officer. Treasurer of G.L. , see G. Treasurer.) 
Elective officer of Sub. L., 222; N.G. may not be Treas., 278 ; duties, 
301-2; keeps notes, bonds, etc., 305; may refuse to pay erroneous 
order, 304 ; final report at close of term, first meeting in new term, 301 ; 
if not legally installed, no monc}'- to be paid to him, 298 ; not installed if 
bond is not previously executed, 301 ; but installing officer may have 
bond executed, 350; N.G. only may draw on Treas., 278; defaulting 
Treas. not to be released, 458 (4). 
Payment of dues to Treas. is not payment to Lodge, unless he is Per. Sec. 
Pro tern., 445-6 ; cannot demand W.C. before settlement of all accounts, 



ILLINOIS ODD- FELLOWS' CODE. 411 

>^^ The figures refer to the sections "^®ft 

TREASURER — C<3«z'/«z^t'^. 

510; committee or Trustees cannot draw on Treas., loii, 1021 ; Treas. 

should not be Trustee, if avoidable, toi8 ; nor on Fin. Com., 1025 ; 

report to be examined before first meeting of new term by Fin. Com. of 

his term, 301, 1035; Trustees, not Treas., keep official bonds, 1022; 

Treas. of special relief fund, 64 ; of R.D L., 910. 
See Office, Officer, Eligibility, Bond, Trustees, Funds, and 

related titles. 
TRIAL, (I) in G.L. G.L. may expel a member from itself, but not from 

Sub. L., 49; may refuse to try member on charges presented, 49; how 

G. Officer is tried, being removed onl^^ b^^ two-thirds vote, iii ; whether 

he is displaced during trial, 112. 
Lodge may be tried, and how, 197; taking charter without trial is unjust, 

59- 

(II) in Sub. L. See Practical Code of Trials, pp. 274-280; especially 
Div. IX, on Trial proper. 

Trial of Patriarch had better be in his Lodge, 613 ; outline of a trial, 630. 

(III) in R.D.L., 898. 

See the related subjects, Jurisdiction, Offense, Official Misconduct, 
Contempt, Information, Committee, Charges, Summons, Evi- 
dence, Accused, Penalty, Fine, Expulsion, Suspension, Repri- 
mand, Venue, Ballot, Appeals, etc. etc. For suggested Forms, see 
Appendix, pp. 317-321. 

TRL'^STEES. Five chosen annually, when and how, 1016-17, 1019 ; cer- 
tificate of election to be recorded, 1017; are Standing Committee of 
Lodge, not officers, 1015, 1018 ; N.G., V.G., Sec. and Treas. not to be 
members, if others can be had, 1018 ; hold office one year, but removable 
by Lodge only for neglect, 1018, 1020 ; bound to obe^^ orders ^of Lodge 
and subject to penalty, 1024; may not draw on Treas. nor keep funds, 
bonds, etc., 102 1 ; may have charge of widows and orphans, 1016 ; are 
not to be named individually in bond of Treas., but bond is to Trustees, 
303 ; they keep official bonds, 1022 ; how they purchase for Lodge, 1023; 
By-laws may not require them to be householders, 958 ; Treas. giT^s 
them receipts, 302. 

TRUSTS AND TRUST FUNDS. W. and O. and other special funds are 
trusts, and must be so kept, 471, note, 1064; funds and property of Sub. 
L. are trusts ; division of them is illegal and dishonorable, 476 ; all 
effects of dissolving or defunct Lodge go to G.L. as trust, 477 ; specific 
trust in funds of defunct must be administered as such by G.L,, 481, 
1063, 1064, 
See Division. 

UNIFORM, for parade of Sub. L., 625. 

L'NITED STATES. — See Army, Soldier, Treason. 

UNWORTHY. — See Annul, Membership, Jurisdiction, Offense. 

U.O.S.B., not allowed as substitute for I.O.O.F., or translation of it, 1084. 

USAGE, Under control of G.L.U.S., 6; recognized source of law, 8; 
questions of usage not received in S.G.L. except from certain sources, 9 ; 
same not received in G.L. 111. except from Sub. L., 94; G. Instructors 
declare, 145 ; usage, transmission of A.T.P.W. by G. Rep., recognized 
as law, 841. 
See Work of the O^der. 



412 ILLINOIS ODD-FELLOWS' CODE. 

4^ The figtires refer to the sections ""©H 
USE, may make valid an informal or irregular membership, 400, 417, 419. 
VACANCY AND VACATING, (I) in S.G.L. and G.L. Not created 
by officer's or G, Rep.'s taking W.C., if deposited in one month, 17; 
G. Rep. does not vacate by non-attendance first session, except under 
law of his G. Body, 18 ; vacancy in G. Office filled ad interim by G.M., 
then by election or appointment, 114; vacancy in G.L. committee, how- 
filled, 153 ; vacancy of Rep. to G.L., how filled, 78-9 ; seat allowed to 
past officer may be vacated on further examination of his claim, 30; 
expulsion vacates place of Dep. or Rep., 324; failure to attend session 
of G.L. does not vacate it, 80; suspension vacates G. or Sub. office, 

113; 749- 

(II) tn Subordinate. Vacancy created by failure to be installed, 257-8 ; 
no vacation of office by absence unless law exists to make it, 259, 262; 
three successive absences vacate office if Lodge wills, 261 ; vacancy 
declared on fourth night, 263 ; right to vacate lapses, if Lodge allows 
officer to resume his place, 263 ; N.G. may not be reelected to his own 
vacancy and honors, if he has forfeited them by voluntary absence for 
majority of nights, 261, note; but may have honors if he has served 
a majorit}^ of nights ; Addenda after this Index. 

Officer-elect set aside or appointed officer displaced if he has failed to learn 
his charges, 271, 344; vacation of office in R.D.L. for three successive 
absences, 911 ; when Third-Degree member may fill vacancy in office of 
N.G. or V.G., 250; V.G. promoted to vacancy in N.G.'s chair has no 
P.V.G. honors, 316; in case of illegal installation (as without D. of R.) 
chair is vacated, etc., 345 ; election to office of Treas. may be vacated 
if bond is not approved before installation begins, if Lodge chooses, 350; 
no special authority needed to install for vacancy after regular time, 
339 ; vacancies in Lodge committees, how filled, 1009. 

See Removal {0/ officers), Resignation. 
VALETUDINARY, G.L. may not levy tax for asylum, 52. 

VENUE, change of, in trial, how taken, 711 ; proceedings for removal of 
trial, 711 (20,21, 22); who prosecutes after removal, 711 (20), 712 ; change 
may be asked on behalf of prosecution, or in case of official misconduct, 
713 ; accused may be one of petitioners, 713 ; change may be asked on 
second trial, 714 ; how testimon^^ of remote witnesses is taken, 711 (21), 
715 ; how appeal is taken from judgment in change of venue, 793. 

VICE, deprives of benefits, 564 (5), 590. 

VICE GRAND. Elective officer of Lodge, 222 ; assists N.G. presiding, 
287, 288 ; take his place if absent, 287, with all powers (exception given) 
and wearing his regalia, 282-3 ; may not waive his right to N.G.'s chair 
except in certain cases, 283 ; appoints his own Supporters and minority 
of committees, 287 ; may confer degrees as N.G., but not give P.G.'s 
charge, 281, 288 ; signs returns of term, 1037 ; service as V.G. qualifies 
for N.G.'s chair, in any Lodge, 249, 251-2 ; V.G. may be chosen N.G. 
at close of term, 245. 
Third-Degree member may be chosen V.G. by dispensation, 250, 251 ; 
six months' service as Per. Sec. qualifies for V.G. ,254; 'V .Q. pro tein. 
may appoint his pro-tem. Supporters, if incumbents are absent, 256 ; 
V.G. must learn charges before installation, 271 ; V.G. of one Lodge may 
not open another, 290 ; first V G. of new or revived Lodge is entitled to 
P. Sec. Deg., 315; no one has degree of P.V.G. without service except 
N.G. of new or revived Lodge, 316 ; V.G. examines ballot, 405-6 ; V.G. 
should not put N.G. on Pros. Com., 651 ; regalia of V.G., 917,920. 



ILLINOIS ODD-FELLOWS' CODE. 413 

j§^ The figures refer to the sections "=®||i 

VICE O^K^Vi — Continued. 

V.G. puts question on excusing N.G.'s absence, 286 ; who may be V.G. 
/r(5' z't'/V^., 282-3-4, 289, 306 ; notice of sickness may go to V.G., 573 ; 
receives A.T.P.W. and other P.W's from G.M., 328(5), 829, 834 ; may 
be on committee to examine visitors, 520 ; charges or information against 
N.G. go to V.G., who presides in trial, 647-8 ; V.G. should not be 
Trustee, if avoidable, 1018 ; V.G. installed without D. ofR. to vacate 
seat, get degree and be reinstalled, 255, 345 ; has charge of door under 
N.G., 287 ; may call meeting in absence of N.G., 279 ; V.G. in R.D.L., 
909. 

See Officer, and titles named at close of that title. 
VISIT, OFFICIAL, of G. Sire, 23 ; G.M. may make at pleasure, 118 ; G.M. 
so visiting receives honors, 125, 148; visit is official only when he so 
announces, 125, 148; then should wear his official dress, 125; Official 
Instructors visit with power of a Dep. of G.M., 145 ; when honors are 
given to official and other visitors, 147; G. Officers may visit R.D.L. 
officially, without its S.A.P.W., 894. 
VISITATION of G. Officers authorizes calling a P:G. to N.G.'s chair, 283. 
VISITING AND VISITORS. Who may visit S.G.L., 535; and how, 25; 
elective G. Officers may introduce visitors (in open Lodge only, 526), 
without usual examination, and limits of this power, 13, 149, 512, 535 ; 
but no honors given, unless visitor is of has been G. Officer, 535 ; Lodge 
may visit in a body introduced by its first two officers and how, 
533-4, 536 ; A.T.P.W. for use of visitors, 834; visitor uses A.T.P.W. of 
date of his card, 838 ; holder of card visits during its currency, 503 ; 
W.C. invalid for visiting when one year old, 512 ; holder of dismissal 
certificate has no right to visit, 542, 756 (10), 774. 

iNIember visits in his own state by Term P.W., 519 ; out of it or in it by 
V.C. or W.C. and A.T.P.W., 519 ; but Lodge card is not iise'ci to visit 
Encampment, and vice versa, 519 ; mode of examining and introducing 
visitor, 520, Form for introduction, Appendix, p. 294 ; visitor proves his 
degree rank, 522; but if card calls him P.G., he takes P.G.'s regalia, 
522 ; discrepancy in date of card and A.T.P.W. prevents visiting by it, 
524; Lodge vtay examine visitor every time he comes, but need not so 
long as card is current, 525 ; holder of W.C. visits Lodge that granted it 
just as if a stranger, 528 ; holder of card without A.T.P.W. not admitted, 
527 ; no vouching allowed, 527. 

Committee should use all necessary means to ascertain correctness of visi- 
tor, 527; no test oath or O.B.N, to be required of visitor, 529; visitor 
cannot be examined and introduced before Lodge is opened, by commit- 
tee or by G. Officer, 526 ; visitor who is correct may not be refused, 
except for violence, insult, indecorurn, etc., 530-1; visitor may not be 
required to leave room, if decent, 531-2, 737; no person disqualified for 
membership can visit, even with regular card, 543 ; visitor may reenter 
by E.P.W., 845; visitor may be allowed, by majority vote, to speak, 
991. 

Regalia and jewels of highest degree may be worn b}^ visitor anywhere, 
926 ; suspended or expelled person has no right to visit any Lodge dur- 
ing pendency of appeal, 790 ; visitor not admitted on vouching, except in 
S.G.L., 25, 527. Brother or sister having R. Deg. and its A.P.W. may 
visit Sub, L. in that degree, 882, 893 ; only members of R.D.L. can visit 
R.D.L., 895; visiting in R.D.L's may be done with a R.D.L. Vis. 
Card, 893. 

See Card, Password, Committee, Vouching. 



414 ILLINOIS ODD-FELLOWS' CODE. 

4^ The Jig-ures refer to the sections "^Jl 

VISITING COMMITTEE, consists of N.G., V.G., Jun. P.G., and any 
added by by-law, 603 ; if N.G. is reelected, Jun. P.G. serves again, 228 ; 
duties, 603 ; Lodge determines whether Sec. or Per. Sec. shall aid 
Vis. Com., and how, 295 ; Vis. Com. need not send written notice to sum- 
mon watcher, 666 ; takes care of non-beneficial sick, 667 ; may report 
orally or in writing, or partly in each way, 988 ; notice of sickness may 
be given to Vis. Com. in open Lodge, 573 ; Vis. Com. and not Fin. Com. 
report on claims for benefits, 1027, 
See Sick, Sickness, Watching. 

VOTE AND VOTING, (I) generally. All members must vote, unless 
excused, on all questions, 1004 ; but directly interested party must not 
vote, 1003-4 ; members intending to withdraw vote, unless excluded by 
interest, 1002 ; if tellers' report of votes is disputed, before vote is 
declared, it is taken again, both sides, 1008 ; no one may vote if not in 
regalia, 97 (4) ; 975 ; tie vote on a question is no expression of opinion, 
see title Tie Vote in this Index ; holding of office in G. or Sub. L. does 
not deprive of vote, nor give additional voting power, 109, 272. 

(II) in S.G.L. P.G. Sires have no vote, 10; G. Rep. casts two votes in 
absence of colleague, 11 ; G. Rep. may vote on appeal from his state, 
even though interested, 16. 

(III) in G. Body, G. Lodge. P.G's ma^^ not vote by proxy, 43 ; P.G's hav- 
ing voted without choice, an election may be limited to Reps., 43 ; Rep. 
casts vote of his Lodge, one vote for every ten members, 92 ; last report 
determines vote of Lodge, 93 ; all questions settled by majority, unless 
on call of Lodges, 92 ; call for Lodge vote must be made by ten Reps = , 
93; how Lodge vote is taken, 93 ; votes announced by G.M., 98; vote 
in G.L. may be limited to Reps., 29 ; P.G's may vote for G. Officers, 
though not present in G.L., 42 ; when member ma^' have two votes, 44 ; 
no vote for officer counted unless for nominee, 105. 

If majority of votes by L's is required, roll of L's must be called; 
even unanimous vote is not equivalent nor legal, 47 ; Rules of Order on 
voting, 100; G. Officer no special vote, nor right to vote ex officio, 109 ; 
except that G.M. has casting vote, 115 ; when two-thirds vote is required, 
it means two-thirds of members present, 47 ; two-thirds vote of members 
present and voting to amend constitution, 89 ; two-thirds vote to suspend 
or expel Lodge, 197 ; two-thirds vote to amend Order of Business or 
Rules 102 ;* two-thirds vote to remove G. Officer, in. 

(IV) in Sub. L. G. Officer neither loses nor gains voting right, 109, 273 ; 
vote by acclamation in elections, 237 ; N.G. has casting vote only on 
questions; has vote in elections, 273; N.G. announces votes, 273 ; con- 
ditional vote on W.C. illegal, 494 : vote on W.C. not to be had, charges 
or information pending, or appeal, 487, 491, 499 ; cards given on vote 
only, 500; applicant for card may withdraw application any time before 
vote, 500 ; ballot vote on giving W.C, ballot or usual way on V.C., 502 ; 
vote giving W.C. severs membership, 503 ; vote giving W.C. not to be 
reconsidered or rescinded, 489. 

Votes in Lodge are by the voting sign, with certain exceptions, 634, 1005 ; 
Degree L's vote like others, 1005 ; R.D.L's vote yes or no, 897 ; all 
vote, including new members, looi, 1004 ; in elections, votes out ot 



* The Rules of Order of the G.L. do not contain the provision usual in 
such rules, that they may be suspended by a vote of two-thirds of the mem- 
bers ; but such suspension can be had under Robert's Rules of Order, 
\ 18 ; two-thirds sets aside rules generally, but some cases affecting the rights 
of minorities require a unanimous vote. 



ILLINOIS ODD-FELLOWS' CODE. 415 

4®== The figures refer to the sections ""©gl 

VOTE AND NOTY^Qf — Continued. 

nomination counted as blanks, votes in blank counted, 234 ; vote for 
one who has not regularly declined nomination must be counted, 232. 
A vote may be taken by installing officer, 353 ; vote without a legal 
quorum is invalid, 979. 

In trial, all votes on guilt and penalty are by ballot, 699 ; how and when 
vote may be taken on case sent back by G.M., 727 ; only those hearing 
evidence vote on result ; who may and ma^^ not, do and do not, vote in 
trial, 692, 695-6, 698; effect of white and black balls in trials to be ex- 
plained by N.G., 700; whether two votes on expulsion may be had, 
697 ; vote on each charge and specification separate, 693 ; it is not 
punishable to vote for one's self, or to cast a black ball, 627; right to 
vote as affected b}^ N.P.D., see in Arrears, Non-payment. 

No vote required, to give certificate of standing for joining Encampment, 
296 ; to give order for P. W., 837 ; to assign a penalty prescribed by law, 
710 ; to enforce disabilities for arrears, 738 ; for dropping, 759 ; to receive 
proposition, 397 ; to give dismissal certificate, 501 ; or certificate of 
resignation, 540. 

Majority vote is required by usage and parliamentary law, on all ordinary 
questions in Lodge, but it is specially required in elections, 234; to vote 
card, 488-9 ; to elect members in R.D.L., unless local law is otherwise, 
886 ; in 111. two-thirds vote is required, 906 ; to determine period 01 
suspension, 702 ; to impose or remit fine, 740. 

Tivo-thirds vote required, to grant card to wife or widow, 518 ; to con- 
vict in trial, 692 ; to determine kind of penalty (but not time or amount), 
692 ; to reinstate after expulsion, 818 ; to elect to membership in 
R.D.L., 906; and by parliamentary^ law, to suspend rules of order : see 
foot-note, p. 414, 

See Ballot, Election, Card, Trial, Tie Vote. 
VOUCHING, of G. Rep. admits qualified visitor to S.G.L., 25 : not 
allowed to gain admission into Lodge, 527, 828. 

See Visiting, Grand Officers. 
WARDEN. Appointed officer in Lodge, 222 ; must have Third and 
Rebekah Degrees, 244, 248 ; may be paid for services, 269 ; case of P.G. 
acting as Warden, but not in proper regalia, 929 ; when Warden gives no 
address, 1114 ; Warden passes the ballot-box to V.G. and N.G., 405. 
WARRANT. (An authority for opening a Lodge and holding meetings. 
The Charter is the warrant given by the G.L.; see that title. Refer- 
ences here given relate only to the preliminary dispensation.) 

G. Master issues, but not ex officio, 115, and note; filled by G. Sec. on 
order of G.M., 173; receiving petition, and sent to G.M., 170 ; constitutes 
the Lodge naming its original members, 174 ; warrant for R.D.L. issued 
by G.M., 889 ; warrant given by instituting officer, 178. 

See Charter. 
WATCHING. Watching with sick brother is duty except in contagious 
disease, when Lodge may hire nurse, 604 : neglect punishable, 620 (6); 
but Lodge may provide to hire watchers, 604, and tax for the purpose is 
legal if b}^ -laws so provide, 432 ; by-law may not limit extent of watching 
service, 958 ; Lodge only in each case determine reasonable limit, which 
is not by state lines, 1102 ; Lodge paying for watchers at home must do 
same for an absent member, with an exception, 578 ; non-beneficial or 
brother under charges entitled to watchers, 607, 735 ; Sec. does not 



416 



ILLINOIS ODD-FELLOWS' CODE, 



4®=" The figures refer to the sectio7ts "=^©11 

^ KTCMY^O — Continued. 

notify watchers unless Lodge requires, 295 ; Vis. Com. gives notice in 
any way, 606; notified member must watch, 606 ; practicing physician 
excusable, iioi. 

WEEK. Benefits reckoned by weekly periods, and not paid for less than a 
week, but paid for every full week, 547, 551, 555 ; week not counted by 
the working days, 555. 

WHITE. White males only can be members, 367, 372, 543. White ball in 
trial is vote for conviction, or for penalty, or the affirmative of the ques- 
tion, 698, 700. 

WIDOW, is beneficiary if her husband was such, 599 ; widow of suspended 
member has no claim ; donation to her must come under restrictions of a 
charity, 598 ; widow of non-beneficial, no claim, but for care and pro- 
tection, 596; no allowance fixed by law for widow ; her need and ability 
of Lodge determine it, 595 ; widows have appealed to S.G.L., 804. 
Widow may have a card, 518 ; at option of Lodge she may have R. Deg., 
874-5 ; may be eligible to R. Vi&%. as sister or daughter, 879, but not as 
widow of holder of W.C., 880. 
See Widows and Orphans, Degree of Rebekah. 

WIDOW AND ORPHAN FUND, not obligatory, but optional, 471 ; if 
formed, may not be merged in general fund, except under restrictions, 
471, 472 ; if merged, drafts for W. and O. are on general fund, 595 ; W. 
and O. fund of Defuncts to be used by G.L. as a special trust, 1064. 
See Charity, Relief, Funds. 

WIDOWS AND ORPHANS. W. and O. in care of Trustees, 1016 ; 
allowances are not benefits, 595 ; endowments for W. and O. recom- 
mended, 57; G.L. may not levy tax for asylums, 52; funds of Defuncts 
may be used for W. and O., 1063. 
See Widow, Benefits, Charity, Family. 

WIFE. B^^-laws may not allow funeral benefit on death of wife, 592 ; card 
for one year may be given to wife, 518 ; Rebekah Degree conferred on 
wife of member of Scarlet Degree, 874 ; wife of holder of W.C., if of 
R. Deg., may attend R.-Deg. meetings, 881 ; regalia not worn by Lodge 
at funeral of brother's wife, 1080 ; wife may not give evidence against her 
husband except in case of corporal injury to herself, 685-6 ; former wife 
(divorced) may be witness against former husband, 686 ; benefits pay- 
able to wife if she is member of the family, 574. 
See Widow, Family, Orphans, Benefits and Divorce. 

WITHDRAWAL. — See Card, Part III, Resignation, and Encampment 

WITNESSES. Accused must have right to meet and cross-examine prose- 
cution's witnesses, and to be heard by his own witnesses, 630 ; witnesses 
cited by Sec, 656 ; who are to be cited as witnesses, 656, 674 ; non-resi- 
dent witnesses, 675 ; expense of defendant's witnesses not paid by Lodge, 
677; witnesses in case of removed trial, 711. 
Names of witnesses given in information, 642 ; one dropped or suspended 
may be summoned as witness, 674 ; witness in extremis, 677, note ; 
accused may be witness, 684; wife as witness, 685-6; sister of R. Deg. 
as witness, 687; trial not to be postponed for absence of witness^ if what 
he might prove is admitted, 691 ; competency of witness may be im- 
peached on appeal, 794. 
See Evidence, III, in trials : also. Trials, and related titles. 



ILLINOIS ODD- FELLOWS' CODE. 417 

4^=^ The figures refer to the sections ""©fl 

WOMEN. — See Sees. 543, 804, note. Also, Wife, Widow, Sister, 
Daughter, Degree (of Rebekah), Divorce, Family. 

WORK OF THE ORDER. Written and unwritten, the written being in 
the Charge and Degree Books, 8; regulated by S.G.L. alone, 6; vote 
necessary for changes, 6 ; work is source of law, 8; G. Rep. must 
instruct his G. Body, 137; G. Body enforces strict observance, 37; no 
work of any sort aUowed but that prescribed by S.G.L. , 863; Lodge 
chartered to work in one language may not work in another which is the 
working language of other Lodge in same place, 218 ; Grand Instructors 
teach work, 145 ; part of object of special Degree Sessions of G.L., 34. 
N.G. and V.G. elect must learn work before installation, 271 ; all appointive 
officers must commit their parts of the work in one month, 271 ; N.G. is 
custodian of books of written work, and may not allow copies, nor taking 
from Lodge room, 276-7 ; P.G.'s charge may be given by N.G., never by 
V.G., 281 ; no omission from, addition to or variation from initiatory- 
ceremony allowed, 416 ; use of hatchel, ratchet, or bull-ring forbidden, 

1113 ; use of signs at certain times is complimentary, not obligatory, 

1114 ; prayer is not integral part of work in Lodge, 1098. 

Work not to be interfered with by lettmg Lodge room, or sale of para- 
phernalia, 1103-4; viaking defined, iiii ; address to chairs obligatory, 
with exceptions, 1114; temporary suspension was allowed during War 
of Secession, see Suspension of Work; rehearsal of old work or paro- 
dies, etc., forbidden, 864; degree work by book in opening, 863; volun- 
tary' societies may not use R. Deg. Work, 903. 

See Degrees, Grand Instructors, Rituals, Supplies, Initiation, 
Usage, Foreign Language. 
YEAS AND NAYS. Called in G.L. on all votes by Lodges, and recorded, 
92 ; may be taken in Sub. L., 1005 ; is regular mode of voting in 
R.D.L's, 897.— See Vote. 

28 



ADDEI^rDA. 



The Sovereign Grand Lodge of the I.O.O.F. held its session 
for 1882 during the preparation of a part of the index to this 
Code, and the Compiler is therefore enabled to give the fol- 
lowing exhibit of its legislation and decisions as they appear in 
the Daily Journal. The number at the beginning of each 
paragraph shows what section of this Code seems most affected 
by or related to the new enactment. 

Sec. 54. A Grand Lodge may not make it obligatory 
upon members to subscribe for a paper which it publishes. 

G. Sire, Decis. 17. 

103. State Grand Bodies are advised to abolish the titles 
of Most Worthy, Right Worthy, and Worthy, as applied to G. 
Bodies and to officers. Legis. Report. 

In anticipation of this action, these titles were, by order of the committee 
on this Code, omitted, though still standing in the constitution and elsewhere. 

168. Petition for a charter must be signed by five Third- 
Degree members. G. Sire, Decis. 1 1. 

i6g. Under regulation of his Grand Lodge, a G.M. may, 
by himself or Deputy, for the purpose of forming a new Lodge 
in a place ten miles or more from any existing Lodge, initiate 
persons enough for that purpose, and confer the requisite 
degrees upon them ; provided, such persons make regular appli- 
cation for membership in the nearest Lodge, and are therein 
recommended for membership by the vote requisite for election ; 
which vote must be certified to the G.M. by the N.G. and Sec- 
retary, under seal. Legis. Report. 

172. The law forbidding the use of the name of a living 
person as the name of a Lodge is not to be evaded by dropping 
his given name. G. Sire, Decis. 14. 



420 ILLINOIS ODD-FELLOWS' CODE. 

2IO. If a Lodge owns store-rooms under its hall, the 
renting of them for any legitimate business is not a violation of 
the law about liquors in halls or ante-rooms connected with a 
Lodge room. G. Sire, Decis. 15. 

222. A brother cannot be both Recording Secretary and 
Treasurer at the same time. G. Sii-e, Decis. 24. 

268. If a Noble Grand has served a majority of the 
nights of a term and his Lodge gives him leave of absence, and 
he is absent the rest of the term, he is entitled to the honors 
and becomes a Past Grand. G. Sire, Decis. 4 and 5. 

371. There is no intervisitation between the Manchester 
Unity and the I.O.O.F.; hence a Grand Master [or other brother] 
of the I.O.O.F. cannot visit the M.U. as an officer or member 
of the I.O.O.F. G. Sire, Decis. 23. 

377. Soldiers resident for six months at a post may apply 
for membership, complying with local laws. Legis. Report. 

435. An initiate pays dues from inidation. He can 
attend his Lodge when it is open in the Initiatory Degree, and 
he is entitled to benefits if the local law so provides. 

S. G. Report. 

484. A Visiting card must be returned to the Lodge [or 
Encampment] that issued it, and that body may not issue to the 
same brother a new card till he has returned the old one, or 
given proof of its loss or destruction. Legis. Report. 

515. If a card is annulled, and the holder thereof tried 
and acquitted, his position in the Lodge is the same as if the 
card had never been granted. G. Sire, Decis. 10. 

525. On Visiting Cards a blank is printed, to be filled by 
the Secretary when a brother visits a Lodge by card. [This 
modifies the note to clause 13, p. 264.] 

546. After benefits have become due, a Lodge may not 
reduce the amount of them. G. Sire, Decis. 7. 

551. Payment of benefits may not be limited to any term 
of weeks. G. Sire, Decis. 6. 

551. Law may provide that benefits shall not be paid for 
the first week of sickness. G. Sire, Decis. 8. 

560. Advance payment of dues being required by a 
Lodge, quarterly, still it may not refuse benefits to a brother 
until he is more than thirteen weeks in arrears. 

G. Sire, Decis. 27. 



ILLINOIS ODD-FELLOWS' CODE. 421 

579. When relief is granted to a brother holding a Visit- 
ing Card by a Lodge, Encampment, or Relief Committee, the 
fact and the amount granted are to be entered on his card. 

Legis. Report. 

707. A Grand Lodge may not take up the case of an 
expelled member who neglected to appeal in time, and request 
that he be reinstated, and require that if he be not reinstated 
a full copy of the case be sent up for review. 

G. Sire, Decis. 26. 

746. A member appointed on a committee must serve, 
unless excused. G. Sire, Decis. 18. 

763. Time and not amount due must be regarded in 
dropping members. (See Sec. 765.) G. Sire, Decis. 9. 

850. Balloting for degrees takes place only in the Third- 
Degree. The ballot must be on each degree separately, unless 
the local law provides otherwise. iySec. 852.) 

G. Sire, Decis. 22 / S. O. and yud. Reports. 

884. Degree Lodges D of R., may confer the Rebekah 
Degree upon any eligible person, on request of a Lodge, with 
its certificate : such conferring is to be without ballot on the part 
of the R.D.L., and without fee, and in nowise confers any of 
the privileges of membership in the R.D.L. D. of R^ Report. 

926. A Patriarch may wear Encampment regalia when 
attending his own Grand or Subordinate Lodge. [This reverses 
the former law.] Legis. Report. 

935- Jewels for R.D.L. officers are adopted: in each case 
a silver or silver-plated circle, with one side plain, the other to 
have a representation or figures, and a word thereunder, viz : 

For the N.G., Rebekah at the well, with the word Fidelity. 

V.G., Ruth and Naomi, Industry. 

Secretary, a pen, Deborah. 

Treasurer, a key. Trust. 

Warden, a cross (bar and ax), Hope. 

Conductor, two wands. Safety. 

Inside Guardian, a shield crossed by a spear. Prove. 

Outside Guardian, same as I.G., with the word Vigilance. 

Special Report. 

967. Regular meetings of a Lodge cannot be dispensed 
with. Const. Report. 



422 ILLINOIS ODD-FELLOWS' CODE. 

1080. The Funeral Ceremony in the Book of Forms may 
be used by a R.D.L. for one of its lady members, substituting 
the word sister for brother therein. Special Report. 

Degrees. Add to the History of Degrees, given in pages 
320 and 321, this statement: " In 1882 a degree was devised 
for Uniformed Patriarchs, and special Encampments were 
authorized to work in the degree." 



^ 



ERRATA. 

Sec. 132, note, for " Sept. 15th" read "Oct. 31st.'' 
Sec. 199, in last line, read "not under penalty." 
Sec. 322, note, first line, read "Art. IV." 
Sec. 348, omit the words "Grand Marshal's." 
Sec. 847, second line, read " 1881." 
Page 291, Form 13, strike out "TV^. 6^." 



